Baaz Bikes Raises 2M$ Led By Kalaari Capital To Support The Gig Economy With EVs.

Baaz Bikes (ElecTorq Technologies) today announced that it has received 2M$ in Pre-Series A led by Kalaari Capital. Existing Investors like AdvantEdge, 9Unicorns and Sumant Sinha (CMD-Renew Power) also participated in this round. The company’s focus is to become a Mobility Platform that provides gig delivery workers access to its in-house designed cost-efficient EV ecosystem (Baaz Bikes and Baaz Swap Network). Baaz aims to solve the critical problems faced by gig delivery workers, i.e., long range requirements, rising petrol costs, lack of capex to buy bikes and heavy downtime due to maintenance.

Baaz bikes have an infinite range, supported by their Dense Automated Battery Swapping Infrastructure (Baaz Swap), which helps the gig delivery workers (a.k.a. Baazigars by Baaz) to efficiently make deliveries with minimum cost and without the anxieties associated with EVs i.e., Range, Charge and Service.

Aimed at assisting gig workers to increase their net take home income by up to 100%, Baaz adopted a tech-driven Asset and Operations Light approach, which not only provides an opportunity for gig workers, but also enables local businessmen to enter the rapidly growing EV market in India by becoming a Baaz Bike Rental Partner.

“It’s always exciting when we meet purpose-oriented entrepreneurs inventing and creating foundations which will unlock tremendous economic value. When the ergonomics of engineering directly impacts the livelihood of gig workers, it is almost a certainty that scale and its benefits will be visible quarter to quarter for the business. Baaz Bikes’ indigenous & innovative “Vehicle to Energy to Software” platform is a large-scale mobility solution designed for both India and Bharat, and will be the global standard for last-mile delivery. We are fortunate to partner with impact-oriented founders and are privileged to share their passionate vision of creating scale and a profitable EV business while directly enhancing India’s economy.” said Ravinder Pal Singh, Partner, Kalaari Capital.

“We are getting bombarded with requests from gig workers to join our platform and start delivering via Baaz. Currently on our Baazigar platform, we have gig workers working for food delivery giants like Zomato and Swiggy. With new age companies promising 10-minute deliveries, demand is only going to strengthen from here. We are excited to have Kalaari’s support in our journey towards Building for Bharat. With this 2M$, we are going to blanket Delhi with our ecosystem in the next 6 months and are targeting to clock 100,000 kms every day,” said Anubhav Sharma, Co-Founder and CEO of Baaz.

A shift towards a sustainable and inexpensive modes of travel has been observed globally. The EV sector is expected to grow by 90% by 2030, according to a report by RBSA Advisors. In the Union Budget 2022-23, the government has created a framework for battery swapping policy to allow EV charging stations for automobiles. The private sector will thus be motivated to create innovative battery models to accelerate the EV ecosystem. This will boost the adoption of EVs, and initiate a move towards cleaner energy and environmentally friendly transportation.

Baaz Bike is a start for inexpensive and sustainable transport for gig workers. India is moving towards being a global hub for EV adoption and manufacturing, with the impetus the government has provided. People are moving away from hydro-carbon based fuel systems towards green and cleaner energy. This demonstrates that EVs are the future. Baaz is already live in two zones of Delhi with its Swapping Infrastructure and its riders are clocking close to 100,000 green kms every month.

About Baaz Bike:

Founded by 5 IIT Delhi Alumni, Baaz Bikes is a Mobility Platform that provides the Gig Delivery Workers, an access to its in-house designed Cost Efficient Bikes (Baaz Bikes) provided by the Local Bike Rental Partners, with practically an infinite range supported by its Dense Automated Battery Swapping Infrastructure (Baaz Swap), which helps the Gig Delivery Workers (a.k.a Baazigars by Baaz) to efficiently make deliveries with least cost and without worrying about various anxieties associated with EVs i.e. Range, Charge and Service.

About Kalaari Capital:

Kalaari Capital is an early-stage, technology-focused venture capital firm based out of Bengaluru, India. Since 2006, Kalaari has empowered visionary entrepreneurs building unique solutions that reshape the way Indians live, work, consume and transact. The firm's ethos is to partner early with founders and work with them to navigate the inevitable challenges of fostering ideas into successful businesses. At its core, Kalaari believes in building long-term relationships based on trust, transparency, authenticity, and respect.

Exhilarating Exterior At Vaishnavi Icon On Richmond Road, Bengaluru

Vaishnavi Group, a leading builder in Bengaluru has incorporated a unique design element in one of their commercial buildings. Vaishnavi Icon, a six-storeyed office space located on Richmond Road a few meters from Trinity Circle boasts of a very unique exterior.

A profound steel sculpture greets you at the entrance of the building which is as magnificent as the building itself. The sculpture, named ‘Exhilaration’ is a 15-foot-high wired human face crafted in pure stainless steel by renowned sculptor, Arzan Khambatta

The concept of the sculpture is all about keeping an open mind and letting your imagination run free. The sculpture took Arzan 6 months to complete.

“In the current work scenario where everyone seems to be competing, meeting goals, pushing for deadlines, and in the process losing themselves, this sculpture is about giving the mind a vacation, so the soul can wander,” explains Arzan Khambatta, about his work of art.

“In the most stressful of situations, if the mind is open, if you let it breathe, life becomes better and miracles happen. The sculpture aims to bring about a calming, soothing & relaxing feeling to those who view it,” adds Arzan Khambatta.

Procter & Gamble India Extends Its Medical And Workplace Benefits To Partners Of LGBTQ+ Employees

Procter & Gamble today announced that all its company offered benefits are now extended to partners of LGBTQ+ employees. Effective April 1, 2022, the following company medical and workplace benefits will be extended to partners of LGBTQ+ employees:

a)      Medical support: Partners of LGBTQ+ employees will now be covered under company’s medical plan that provides hospitalization coverage to employees and their dependents

b)      Emergency financial assistance: LGBTQ+ employees can avail emergency financial assistance for their partners. P&G India provides emergency financial assistance to its employees and their partners in case of natural calamity, death of an immediate family member or hospitalization of an immediate family member to cover expenses not covered in the company’s medical policy

c)       Flex subsidy allowance: The company provides additional fixed allowance to its employees to meet their personal and family needs. These include interest payments for bank loans, allowance for medical care, childcare, wellness, productivity tools, home renovation, personal vacation and travel, personal development for employee and family, and family celebrations. LGBTQ+ employees can now avail this benefit for their partners

d)      Relocation benefits: The company will extend financial support and transfer related assistance arising out of a company-initiated relocation to partners of LGBTQ+ employees

PM Srinivas, Vice President and Head – Human Resources, Indian Sub-Continent, Procter & Gamble said, “At P&G, our goal is to create a fully inclusive workplace where our employees feel included and are able to bring their authentic selves to work every day. In line with that, we are proud to shape our company offered comprehensive benefits to a fully inclusive and equality-based program which extends to partners of LGBTQ+ employees. This latest initiative builds on top of our ‘Share the Care’ inclusive parental leave policy that we launched last year. We will also continue to strengthen our awareness and training programs that sensitize our people on LGBTQ+ diversity. We hope that this will enable us to strengthen our company’s culture, inspire change and create a positive societal impact.”

Back in 1992, P&G took a public stand for inclusion by adding sexual orientation to its non-discrimination policies. The company has an internal affinity group, GABLE (Gay, Ally, Bisexual, Lesbian, and Transgender Employees) that is dedicated to fostering an inclusive and supportive network, that empowers diverse employees to bring their whole selves to work every day. The company’s India GABLE network has been conducting LGBTQ+ diversity training to sensitize employees on inclusive behaviours, role modeling inclusion and showing support. In the past six months, more than 70% managers have completed this training.

P&G India has also launched ‘Pride Podcasts’ wherein it invites leaders from within P&G globally and external advocates who are sharing their journey, educating, and addressing myths about LGBTQ+. In 2021 the company organized its first ever virtual pride event titled ‘PrideON’ to educate and celebrate the progress made on LGBTQ+ equality and inclusion in the workplace.

About Procter & Gamble: P&G serves consumers in India with one of the strongest portfolios of trusted, quality, leadership brands, including Vicks ®, Ariel®, Tide®, Whisper®, Olay®, Gillette®, Venus®, AmbiPur®, Pampers®, Pantene®, Oral-B®, Head & Shoulders®, Herbal Essences® and Old Spice®. Please visit in.pg.com for the latest news and in-depth information about P&G India and its brands.

5IRE And The City Of Alliance, Nebraska Sign An MoU To Develop Smart Policing System

 

5ire, the 5th generation blockchain network, announced today that it had signed an MoU with the City of Alliance, Nebraska, USA.  The MoU will help develop Smart and Robust Policing for the city.

The MoU will create a public-private partnership between the City of Alliance Police and 5IRE to

* Create and implement a robust smart policing solution that strengthens both transparency and accountability in policing procedures.

* Would streamline procedures that are auditable and reflect all events in greater detail to stakeholders involved.

"This is the central piece of action towards building a civil society that any community can take. Responsible law enforcement that simultaneously serves the public and requires accountability from officials is something that was long expected and needed in our community.  As Sir Robert Peels’ principles established in 1829, “knowing the police are the public and the public are the police.” 5ire helps thrust us into policing the frontier," Phillip Lukens, the chief of Police for the Alliance city, said at the MoU signing.

The MoU signed with the Alliance Police Department is the first of its kind in the United States for 5ire that is gearing up to build confidence in its blockchain network, 5ireChain with a wide diversity of use cases globally.

"Police have a civic role that requires a delicate balance between law enforcement and accountability.", Pratik Gauri, the CEO and co-founder of 5IRE, said at the signing, "The smart policing solution that we are developing with the city of Alliance is one of many solutions across the United States that can be deployed on a public sector scale in a more efficient way than the existing solutions."

5ireChain acts as a bridge to facilitate the world's shift from the 4th industrial revolution, focusing on AI and technological advances, to the 5th industrial revolution, focusing on human-centred design and sustainable development.

"As the chief puts it, 'Policing is a delicate balance between the business aspect congruent with the human rights aspect.' and we are here to provide a tool that empowers everyone to benefit from this new frontier in technology," said Prateek Dwivedi, Co-founder, and CMO at 5ire.

5ire is focused on implementing the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. So much so that 5ire has produced 5ireChain, an innovative blockchain technology with the UN SDGs written into its core. Non-financial factors such as environmental, social, and governance scores are weighted in the 5ireChain ranking protocol, impacting a party's participation in the 5ire network.

By incorporating sustainability into the network's base layers with its blockchain technology and rankings, 5ire is building a for-benefits economy with its mission to accelerate the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. 

About 5ire

5ire is a blockchain ecosystem that brings sustainability, Technology & Innovation to build the 5th industrial revolution (5IR). Founded by Pratik Gauri, Prateek Dwivedi, and Vilma Mattila, proponents of blockchain technology, in August 2021, the mission of the 5ire ecosystem is to embed the for-benefit paradigm at the heart of the blockchain, highly incentivize practises that align with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), facilitate the transition from the 4IR to 5IR and accelerate the implementation of the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The company's primary offering is 5ireChain, a first layer, sustainability-driven 5th generation blockchain that ensures adherence to the philosophy of 5IR, creating a net positive impact on the planet and serving humanity.

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/