Akshaya Patra Initiates Vaccination Camp For BMTC Employees Across Bangalore

* The drive covers over 20,000 employees across bus depots in the city

The Akshaya Patra Foundation is conducting a COVID-19 vaccination drive for the employees of Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation. This drive aims to vaccinate over 20,000 employees across bus depots in the city, including drivers, mechanics and admin staff.

The Foundation strives to address vaccine hesitancy among marginalised communities through its incentivised vaccination drives.

To motivate people, every person who comes forward to get vaccinated receives pre-jab refreshments; post-jab lunch, and a Raksha Kit — a customised ration kit with groceries for 21 meal servings — all free of cost.

Each Raksha Kit consists of one kg of rice, a kilo of wheat flour, 500 gm Toor dal, 500 gm desi chana, 500 gm green moong whole, 250 gm peanuts, 200 gm turmeric powder, one kg sugar, one kg salt, a litre of refined oil and a bar of soap.

About Akshaya Patra Foundation

The Akshaya Patra Foundation is a not-for-profit organization that strives to address classroom hunger and malnutrition in India. By implementing the Mid-Day Meal Scheme in Government and Government-aided schools, Akshaya Patra aims to fight hunger and, at the same time, bring children to school. Since 2000, Akshaya Patra has worked towards reaching out to children with wholesome food every single school day. The Foundation is continuously leveraging technology to cater to millions of children. Its state-of-the-art kitchens have become a subject of study and attract curious visitors from around the world.

In partnership with the Government of India and various State Governments and the inestimable support of many philanthropic donors and well-wishers, Akshaya Patra has grown from humble beginnings serving just 1,500 school children across five schools to becoming the world’s largest (not-for-profit run) mid-day meal programme, serving wholesome food to over 1.8 million children from 19,039 schools [as of March 2020] across 13 states and one union territory in India.

Airtel Business Africa And Avaya Partner To Deliver Effortless Customer Experiences Across The Continent

Airtel Africa, a leading provider of telecommunications and mobile money services with a presence in 14 countries across Africa, announces that its B2B provider, Airtel Business Africa, has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Avaya Holdings Corp. (NYSE: AVYA), to better equip organizations across the continent to deliver effortless customer and employee experiences by providing customer control and flexibility on its fixed voice service.

The agreement will see Airtel Business Africa empower its enterprise customers with the Avaya OneCloud™ AI-powered experience platform, as they transition to the digital workplace. The platform, bundled with Airtel Africa voice services, includes workstream collaboration, contact center, unified communications, and communications platform as a service solution with Avaya OneCloud CCaaS, OneCloud UCaaS and OneCloud CPaaS.

With this joint offering, Airtel Africa’s customers will be able to procure vertical-focused, communications-enabled solutions on a simple, 24/7, one-stop shop and service support in addition to having access to the latest business devices.

The MoU builds on an existing partnership between Airtel and Avaya that has seen Airtel make the Avaya Spaces workstream collaboration solution available across multiple African countries on multiple connectivity channels that include internet, microwave and fibre.

Luc Serviant, Group Enterprise Director, Airtel Business at Airtel Africa commented: “Airtel Africa is committed to exploring opportunities and possibilities that will enhance enterprise operations, empower entrepreneurs, and enable more productive and successful organizations. Our existing partnership with Avaya has supported key sectors over the last 18 months, ensuring minimum disruption to everyday business while still supporting economic growth. This MoU takes our partnership to a new level that will see us enable enterprises to compete and win in the emerging experience economy.”

The agreement will also see Airtel Business Africa take part in the recently launched Avaya Experience Builders™ initiative. Avaya Experience Builders globally aligns Avaya’s services, partners and developers into an ecosystem that delivers next-generation customer and employee experiences. And as part of the initiative, Airtel will leverage and add to Avaya’s rich ecosystem to make it easier for regional businesses to build and deliver experiences that create deeper relationships with their customers.

Nour Al Atassi, Director, Service Providers – Asia, Middle East & Africa, Avaya, said: “Airtel Africa has helped to foster great customer and employee experiences across Africa with its investments in innovation, and we’re proud to be helping Airtel build on that legacy as we work towards an expanded partnership. We can’t wait to see what African businesses, governments and other organizations can do with the power of Avaya OneCloud as Airtel helps them use the platform to compose effortless experiences for their customers and employees.”

Facilio Raises $35M Series B From Dragoneer & Brookfield To Transform Real Estate Operations With AI

* Plans to Expand Its Team, Deepen Its Global Penetration and strengthen its R&D initiatives

Facilio, the property operations software platform leader, today announced it has raised $35 million in Series B led by Dragoneer Investment Group with participation from Brookfield Growth and existing investors Accel India and Tiger Global Management.

Founded in 2017, Facilio offers a unified software platform that leverages an AI-led predictive engine to help real estate portfolios digitize processes and optimize their property operations. Replacing the traditional and siloed software landscape that has frustrated the market for decades. The solution aggregates data from multiple, disconnected systems across portfolios into an integrated, cloud-based platform, helping operations & maintenance [O&M] teams become data-driven and agile. The platform encompasses a suite of SaaS applications for maintenance [CMMS/CaFM solutions] and operational visibility, sustainability, and remote equipment performance monitoring. This modern approach allows customers to reduce operating costs, exceed sustainability targets, and elevates customer experiences.

“Our customers understand that success in a post-pandemic world will be achieved by driving efficiency gains and delivering smooth customer experiences,” said Prabhu Ramachandran, Founder & CEO, Facilio. “We are uniquely positioned to accelerate digital transformation in the built world and lead the industry’s transition towards IoT-led connected buildings. This investment will allow us to extend our market leadership, expand sales and marketing, and enable more companies to reach success through a predictive, connected model of real estate operations.”

Facilio has emerged as a next-generation leader in the $50 billion commercial real estate-focused operations software market. It has established a broad, global customer base and is rapidly gaining share with faster-than-market sales growth across multiple geographies.  Currently Facilio, is solving operational problems for 10k+ properties, over 100 million sq. feet across 12 countries. The company’s growing list of portfolio-scale deployments includes 40+ larger enterprise customers across the commercial office, healthcare, retail, banking, and government real estate categories.

“Facilio has unlocked a world of potential with its AI-based predictive approach to increase operational effectiveness,” said Eric Jones, Partner at Dragoneer Investment Group. “We were blown away by the customer love that Facilio receives from their diverse roster of global clients. The company is on its way to revolutionizing operations for real estate portfolios and we are proud to support this customer-obsessed team.”

Facilio excels in guiding real estate portfolios through their digital transformation journey with its advanced IoT-native and mobile-first product offerings. As a result, many leading organizations dealing with outdated solutions from incumbent vendors are turning to Facilio.

“We have been customers of Facilio and now it's incredible to be a partner in their journey,” said Josh Raffaelli, Managing Partner at Brookfield. “What Prabhu and the team are building isn’t merely a great product portfolio but a movement towards data-led property operations. The company is writing the blueprint for how modern real estate portfolios will operate in the next decade and beyond.”

Founded four years ago by Prabhu Ramachandran, Rajavel Subramanian, Krishnamoorthi Rangasamy, and Yogendra Babu, Facilio has been defining and building the category growth. Similar to how Salesforce is to customer management and ServiceNow is to IT services management in today’s enterprise software categories, Facilio aims to build the operations management cloud platform unifying field workforce processes and infrastructure IoT data, in one place.

About Dragoneer Investment Group

Dragoneer is a growth-oriented investment firm with over $25 billion in long-duration capital. Dragoneer has a history of partnering with management teams growing exceptional companies characterized by sustainable differentiation and superior economic models. The firm’s track record includes public and private investments across industries and geographies, with a particular focus on technology-enabled businesses. Dragoneer has been an investor in companies such as Airbnb, Alibaba, Atlassian, AppFolio, Bytedance, Ceridian, Chime, Datadog, Doordash, Duck Creek, Innovaccer, PointClickCare, Procore, Slack, Samsara, ServiceTitan, Snowflake, Spotify, Uber, UiPath, Urban Company, Zomato, and others.

About Brookfield Asset Management

Brookfield (NYSE: BAM, TSX: BAM.A) is a leading global alternative asset manager with approximately US$690 billion of assets under management across real estate, infrastructure, renewable power and transition, private equity and credit. Brookfield owns and operates long-life assets and businesses, many of which form the backbone of the global economy. Utilizing its global reach, access to large-scale capital and operational expertise, Brookfield offers a range of alternative investment products to investors around the world—including public and private pension plans, endowments and foundations, sovereign wealth funds, financial institutions, insurance companies and private wealth investors.

Brookfield Growth is the technology investment arm of Brookfield.  Founded in 2017, Brookfield Growth seeks to partner and invest growth equity into market-leading technology companies that can leverage the diverse real assets and operating businesses that make up the $690 billion Brookfield economy. For more information, please visit brookfield.com/brookfield-growth

About Facilio:

Facilio's AI-driven property operations platform allows real estate owners to aggregate building data, optimize performance, and control portfolio operations - all from one place.  Customers in the commercial office, healthcare, retail, education, and other real estate categories across the world use Facilio to reduce operations costs, increase net asset value, and de-risk operational liability. Headquartered in New York City with offices in Dubai, Chennai, Singapore, and Sydney, Facilio is a global company backed by leading investors including Accel India, Tiger Global Management, Dragoneer Investment Group, and Brookfield Growth. For more information on Facilio and data-led property operations, please visit facilio.com/

UTI Mutual Fund Launches ‘UTI S&P BSE Low Volatility Index Fund’

UTI Mutual Fund (UTI) launches an open-ended scheme replicating/tracking the S&P BSE Low Volatility Total Return Index (TRI) - ‘UTI S&P BSE Low Volatility Index Fund’. The New Fund Offer opens on February 14, 2022 and closes on February 25, 2022. The scheme will re-open for subscription and redemption on ongoing basis from March 07, 2022.

The investment objective of the scheme is to provide returns that, before expenses, closely correspond to the total returns of the securities as represented by the underlying index, subject to tracking error. However, there is no guarantee or assurance that the investment objective of the scheme will be achieved.

Mr. Sharwan Kumar Goyal, Head - Passive, Arbitrage & Quant Strategies, UTI AMC, is the Fund Manager for the scheme.

On the occasion, Mr. Goyal, said, “Low volatility investing aims to provide better risk adjusted returns over time with less volatility for a relatively smoother ride. Stocks with lower volatility generally tend to hold up better when markets decline rapidly.”

“UTI S&P BSE Low Volatility Index Fund, our latest offering in the smart-beta fund category, will offer exposure to a diversified portfolio of relatively stable companies within the Large and Midcap segment, by investing into the constituents of S&P BSE Low Volatility Index.”, he added.

Salient features of UTI Sensex Index Fund

·        Eligible Investors

The scheme is open to resident individuals, non-resident Indians, Banks, eligible Trusts, Financial Institutions, Foreign Portfolio Investor (FPI) etc.

·        New Fund Offer Price

During the NFO period, the units of the scheme will be sold at face value i.e., Rs. 10/- per unit.

·        Minimum Application Amount

Minimum initial investment is Rs. 5,000/- and in multiples of Re. 1/- thereafter.

Subsequent minimum investment under a folio is Rs. 1,000/- and in multiples of Re. 1/- thereafter with no upper limit.

·        Plans and Options Available

The scheme offers Regular Plan and Direct Plan.

Both the plans offer only Growth Option.

·        Load Structure

o   Entry Load: NIL (Not applicable as per SEBI guidelines)

o   Exit Load: NIL

·        Benchmark Index

S&P BSE Low Volatility TRI

·        Special Products/Facilities Offered

o   Systematic Investment Plan (SIP)

§  Step up facility

§  Any Day SIP

§  Micro SIP (Non PAN exempt folios)

§  Pause facility

o   Systematic Withdrawal Plan (SWP)

o   Systematic Transfer Investment Plan (STRIP) (Available as Destination Scheme and Source Scheme)

o   Flexi Systematic Transfer Investment Plan (Flexi STRIP) (Available as Destination Scheme and Source Scheme)

Product Label

UTI S&P BSE Low Volatility Index Fund

(An open-ended scheme replicating/tracking the S&P BSE Low Volatility Index TRI)

This product is suitable for investors who are seeking*:

·        Capital growth in tune with the index returns

·        Passive investments in equity instruments comprised in S&P BSE Low Volatility Index

(Product labelling assigned during the NFO is based on internal assessment of the scheme characteristics or model portfolio and the same may vary post NFO when the actual investments are made. *Based on the Index Composition as on January 11, 2022.)

AIIA Launches ‘Ayush Start-Up Challenge’ To Encourage Early Start-Ups And Individuals In India

-          AIIA partners with Startup India with the aim to identify and support innovations and start-ups working in the Ayush sector

-          Winners of ‘Ayush Start-up challenge’ will be provided incubation support and financial incentive

-          The last date of applications is March 4, 2022

-          Participants can enter the programme through the link here: https://bit.ly/3JtiG5q

In line with the Central Government’s initiative to support start-ups, All India Institute of Ayurveda (AIIA) in association with Startup India has launched 'Ayush Start-up challenge' to encourage early-stage start-ups and individuals working on innovations in the Ayurveda sector and alternative healing. The winners of ‘Ayush Start-up Challenge’ will receive both a cash prize and incubation support from AIIA.

The Ayush market currently stands at a whopping $10 bn and is projected to see an impressive 50% increase over the course of the next five years. Ayush sector offers massive potential for exponential growth at a time when there is growing global interest in the field of ‘alternative’ medical practices. The Ministry of AYUSH has taken numerous steps to promote the research and understanding of these practices that are indigenous to India and her history. All India Institute of Ayurveda (AIIA) is actively working towards creating an environment that fosters research and development and building of practices, technology, and solutions to accelerate the adoption of AYUSH practices. The ‘Ayush Start-up Challenge’ is an important initiative towards realizing this vision.

Speaking on the occasion, Prof. (Dr.) Tanuja Manoj Nesari, Director, AIIA said, “We are building AIIA as an institution of eminence under the guidance of Ministry of Ayush with three key wings of medical science under one roof – academics, scientific research and clinical practice. To fully realize the potential of the Ayush science we need a thriving ecosystem with players operating across the entire value chain. This is where start-ups can play an important role in developing new solutions. The present initiative aims to not just identify promising start-ups and reward them, but also provide them incubation support through guidance and skill development which will go a long way in helping these start-ups realize their next phase of growth”.

The ‘Ayush Start-up Challenge’ is open for participation from both early-stage start-ups as well as individuals as a group. A group of 3-5 individuals can come together to participate in the programme, however, if selected they would need to register a legal entity before the cash prize is disbursed to them.  

There are 3 entry categories for participating start-ups - Ayush Food Innovations, Ayush Bio-instrumentation (Hardware solutions) and Ayush IT Solutions (Software solutions). There will be two winners in each of the 3 categories with a cash prize of Rs. 1 lakh for the winner and Rs. 50,000/- for the runner-up. Therefore overall, there would be 6 winners.

In addition, winners will receive incubation support from AIIA. The incubation support would entitle winners to tap into the vast knowledge and resource pool of AIIA across the three wings of the institute namely research, academics, and Hospital.

Details of the 3 participating categories are as follows:

1.       Food Innovations in Ayush Sector – Ready to Eat Nutritious Ayurveda Ahara (Food): In this era of the pandemic the population at large is striving to consume more nutritious food, with less time to be spent in preparing it. The ready-to-eat foods are in demand at a wider scale and those which require minimum preparation or clean-up for the user. Innovation in this segment of food delivery helps in enabling consumers to enjoy a healthy lifestyle while keeping to their busy work schedules.

2.       Ayush Bio-instrumentation (Hardware Solutions) and Innovations in healthcare:  These innovations should enable breakthrough performance in terms of better outcomes, convenience, access at lower cost, reduced complexity and time required for the patient and the healthcare provider. These innovations can be in the area of 3-D printed devices for Ayurveda Medical Technology products, Convenient care/Urgent care at lower cost to patients, Telehealth, Panchakarma Instrumentation, Innovation in instruments used for pharmaceutical processing of Ayurveda drugs at lab scale, drug ATMs, Innovation in instrumentation for analysis and quality control of Ayurvedic drugs etc.

3.       Ayush IT Solutions in the areas of Artificial Intelligence (AI) based solutions in Ayurveda Diagnostics, Virtual reality, Biosensors & Trackers: Innovations in Information technologies (i.e. ITs) have the capacity, more than any other medium, to facilitate various stakeholders of Ayush Sector achieve better outcomes. Innovations can be in the area of Artificial Intelligence (AI) based solutions in Ayurveda Diagnostics, Virtual reality, Bio-sensors & Trackers, Convenient care/Urgent care at lower cost to patients, Leveraging data to physician experience (During diagnosis and treatment and taking patient feedback), Databases, methods for identifying various phases of pharmaceutical processing, web based networking for raw drug consumption in pharmaceutical industry with linkages etc.

The last date of application submission is March 4, 2022. Participants can enter the programme through the link here: https://bit.ly/3JtiG5q

Jupiter Meta Launches India’s First Fully Curated NFT Marketplace

* To Unveil ‘Icons of Singara Chennai’ project consisting of 12 pieces of art

India’s first fully curated NFT marketplace, developed by Jupiter Meta, will go live on 23rd February. The digital marketplace will focus on verticals such as music, film, and gaming, creating singular experiences for each user and enabling everyone to maximise their time in the metaverse. Jupiter Meta—cofounded by Sathyan Rajan and Chakradhar Reddy Kommera—plans to expand in the growing Web 3.0 space as the startup looks to bring people a more involved and personal feel to their metaverse interactions.

Jupiter Meta’s marketplace is backed by its own level-1 Rubix blockchain technology with zero gas fees. The blockchain is green, sustainable, and 100% secure, ensuring users have a fast, safe experience.

The company will also simultaneously kick off the country’s first-of-its-kind digital wall art, commemorating the essence of Chennai and labelled the ‘Icons of Singara Chennai’. The project is a collection of digital art pieces of monuments, locations, food, places of worship, beaches, and other symbolic representations that capture the spirit of the city. These items will reflect the city’s past, present, and future and will be sold as NFTs for people to own in the Jupiter Meta marketplace. Each piece is part of a larger art project and has a value associated with it, depending on the size and representation.

The project’s art is being led by Karthik SS of 108 Collective. The collaborative group is renowned for its surreal, abstract styles and has developed many installations across India. The digital project will feature the group’s perspective of Chennai, rendered through a blend of artists’ creativity and historical background. The artists will also physically recreate the art on walls at a popular location in Chennai later as part of a beautification drive.

Manasa Rajan, Business Head, Jupiter Meta, said, “Jupiter Meta is an outcome of our vision to create a metaverse for all, for every creative mind, and not just tech buffs. We are witnessing just the beginning of a revolutionary shift in what Web 3.0 can allow us to do and are happy to be starting our journey with the marketplace. We’re all defining pop culture at this very moment, and it’s only going to get bigger.”

“As someone with strong Chennai roots, the project is very personal. This is a celebration of Chennai, its people, language, and flavours. And also the technology that the city prides itself on. As artists, the metaverse is huge for us, and new opportunities are everywhere,” said Karthik SS.

Jupiter Meta owns the NFTs and will sell them on its marketplace. There will be 12 art pieces, and the company plans to mint multiple copies of each for sale. To buy an NFT, buyers will have to register on the marketplace and open a wallet account. The NFTs will be sold on a fixed-price basis.

Link to marketplace: http://www.jupitermeta.io

About Jupiter Meta

Jupiter Meta is India’s first fully curated NFT marketplace. Founded in 2021 by industry veterans Sathyan Rajan and Chakradhar Reddy Kommera, Jupiter Meta will allow users to buy, sell, and trade NFTs, across a range of segments like music, film, art, and culture, with a built-in metaverse to provide personalised, immersive digital experiences. The company aims to expand the notion of the metaverse in India and include everyone as part of a seamlessly connected digital reality. Running on its own 100% secure, green, sustainable level-1 blockchain technology with zero gas fees, Jupiter Meta ensures users have a fast and safe experience.

Aditya Birla Fashion And Retail Limited Selects Accenture To Accelerate Its Digital Transformation Journey

Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail Limited (ABFRL), one of India’s leading fashion companies, announced its collaboration with Accenture (NYSE: ACN) for a digital transformation program designed to drive growth, increase business agility and improve operational efficiency.

As part of its transformation strategy, ABFRL has chosen Accenture to design, develop, and deploy an enterprise resource planning (ERP) system based on SAP S/4HANA® to streamline business processes and improve visibility and accessibility of data across ABFRL.

The new ERP system will support ABFRL which owns brands such as Louis Philippe, Van Heusen, Allen Solly and Peter England across stores in India to efficiently manage multiple fulfilment channels and consolidate disparate technology systems. It will be designed to enhance customer service by combining ABFRL’s manufacturing and retail functions into a digital core using SAP S/4HANA® for Fashion and Vertical Business.

Praveen Shrikhande, Chief Digital and Information Officer at ABFRL, commented, “We are happy to partner with Accenture on a digital transformation program. To stay ahead in today’s fast-changing fashion industry, it is important to spot and react with speed to changes in consumer preferences. The consolidation and digitization of our core ERP system will help us improve agility and responsiveness in a digital-first world, even as we expand our operations and integrate new businesses to grow our brands and product portfolio, enter new consumer segments, and expand into new markets.”

Manish Gupta, Lead for Accenture’s Products industry group in India, said, “The disruption of the past two years has made it clear that technology is paramount for businesses as we shape the future of retail. Our collaboration with ABRFL will not only help them build an integrated digital core across manufacturing, wholesale and retail functions to drive operational efficiencies, but also unlock new value for future disruptions and growth.”

Additionally, ABFRL will use Accenture myConcerto® — an insight-driven platform — to define a transformation vision and build a value case that guides its manufacturing, delivery and change management operations, and underpins the company’s continuous innovation.

Accenture’s Retail industry group helps retail companies and their ecosystem partners adapt to change, remain resilient and stay true to their purpose in a responsible way. To learn more, visit  https://www.accenture.com/us-en/industries/retail-index. 

About Accenture

Accenture is a global professional services company with leading capabilities in digital, cloud and security. Combining unmatched experience and specialized skills across more than 40 industries, we offer Strategy and Consulting, Interactive, Technology and Operations services — all powered by the world’s largest network of Advanced Technology and Intelligent Operations centers. Our 674,000 people deliver on the promise of technology and human ingenuity every day, serving clients in more than 120 countries. We embrace the power of change to create value and shared success for our clients, people, shareholders, partners and communities. Visit us at accenture.com.

About Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail Limited

ABFRL is part of a leading Indian conglomerate, The Aditya Birla Group. With revenue of Rs. 5,249 cr., spanning retail space of 8.4 million sq. ft. (as on March 31, 2021), it is India’s first billion-dollar pure-play fashion powerhouse with an elegant bouquet of leading fashion brands and retail formats.

The Company has a network of 3,212 stores across approximately 31,000 multi-brand outlets with 6,800+ point of sales in department stores across India (as on 31st March 2021). ABFRL’s ‘Lifestyle brands’ include Louis Philippe, Van Heusen, Allen Solly and Peter England established for over 25 years. The ‘Youth Western Wear’ comprises American Eagle and Forever 21.  ‘Super Premium brands’ extends to The Collective, India's largest multi-brand retailer of international brands, Simon Carter and select mono-brands such as Ralph Lauren, Hackett London, Ted Baker and Fred Perry. The ‘Innerwear, Athleisure and Active wear’ segment is establishing itself as India's most innovative and fashionable brand. Pantaloons is one of India’s largest fast fashion store brand. The Company’s portfolio of Ethnic wear brands is built with craft-based brand Jaypore, mid-premium women’s wear brand Marigold Lane and premium men’s wear brand Tasva. The Company’s has also entered into strategic collaborations with India’s leading designers Sabyasachi, Tarun Tahiliani and Shantanu & Nikhil.