World’s First 48-Hour Non-Stop Marathon Holi Organized In Metaverse, Special NFT Collectibles Given To Participants

Metaverse is the next big thing in the world of Web 3.0 and experiments in organizing unique metaverse events are happening around the world. One such first-of-a-kind event was held in India on the occasion of Holi on 18th March.

Yug Metaverse, an exceptional metaverse platform, along with Blocktickets (www.blocktickets.io), an NFT based ticketing platform, collaborated to organize the first-ever Holi set in metaverse. Participants from across the world joined in to celebrate the festival of colors.

The event was live on the Yug Metaverse platform for 48-hours on-stop starting from 18th March till 20th March. The event witnessed participation by people from diverse age groups, including children and young adults.

The participants chose their Avatars and were able to walk around the metaverse, meeting new people, playing Holi with each other, dancing, and making new friends. All this could be done in the safety and convenience of their homes.

This first-of-its-kind Holi events allowed Holi enthusiasts to celebrate with complete strangers from around the world without having to step out of their homes. Participation to the event was kept free but as a special gift, NFT package including the event tickets was made available for only Rs 199.

People who bought the NFT package were provided with a collectible NFT ticket which authenticates that they attended the first-ever Metaverse Holi event. Apart from that, NFT of colors and water gun was airdropped much to the surprise of the children.

"These special NFTs can be kept as collectibles as a lifelong memory by the participants or they can also be sold in the blockchain based marketplaces. The tickets for the event were minted on the Binance blockchain." told Dr Ravi, Co-founder, Blocktickets 

“Though the NFTs of this historic event could fetch thousands of dollars on NFT marketplace, we had purposely priced it at rock bottom of Rs 199/- only. Blocktickets is on mission that millions of internet users in India to adopt NFT and Web 3,” said Nishant Chandra, Co-founder, Blocktickets.

According to Abhinav Garg, Co-founder, Blocktickets, “when tickets are made into NFTs, many of the problems associated are solved. Scalping or black-marketing of tickets which annually costs USD 15 billion is eliminated. Authenticity of ticket is backed by the Blockchain. Event Organizers substantially increase their revenue as tickets can be resold multiple times thereby enabling them to earn royalties whenever the NFT ticket changes wallets.”

Blocktickets is a blockchain-based Web 3 Dapp, founded by Chandra, Garg, and Dr Ravi in the end of year 2021 to provide a platform that sells tickets as NFTs. It combines the US$70 billion tickets market, the US$65 billion event sponsorship sector, and the US$25 billion NFT industry. Sponsors can profit from airdropping their brand NFTs during the event, which will increase engagement.

Meesho Appoints Harsh Chaudhary To Lead Monetisation Among Other New Postings

Meesho, India’s fastest growing internet commerce company, today announced the appointment of Harsh Chaudhary as CXO for Monetisation. In this role, Harsh will lead the team that bolsters revenue generation from Meesho’s various business units. His appointment to the leadership team will further augment Meesho’s growth and accentuate its scale.

An alumni of Indian Institute of Management Calcutta and Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee, Harsh has held leadership positions with brands such as Disney+ Hotstar, Myntra and McKinsey & Company. In his previous role, he was leading teams across category, growth partnerships, strategy and analytics and helped build the video subscription monetisation at Disney+ Hotstar. As a seasoned business leader, he will be responsible for designing and executing the blueprint for monetising Meesho’s business model.

Commenting on the appointment Vidit Aatrey, Founder & CEO, Meesho said, “We are excited to welcome Harsh Chaudhary, who comes with a demonstrated history of spearheading and scaling business growth. His expertise on strategic partnerships and analytics will help take Meesho to greater heights. As we further our mission to digitize MSMEs and bring the next billion users online, monetisation will be an integral part of Meesho’s growth story.”

On his new role, Harsh Chaudhary, CXO, Monetisation, Meesho said, “Meesho has made significant strides in shaping and transforming India's e-commerce landscape. The company’s positive growth trajectory strengthens the promise it has in store for India’s unorganized retail sector. I am thrilled to join the company in its continued efforts towards building for Bharat. I look forward to building and enhancing the company’s monetisation roadmap.”

Meesho has strengthened its leadership team with the recent appointments of Sourabh Pandey and L N Swaminathan to head Fulfillment & Experience and Seller Growth respectively. The company also appointed Dhiresh Bansal as its Chief Financial Officer.

About Meesho

Meesho is India’s fastest growing internet commerce platform. With a vision to enable 100 million small businesses, including individual entrepreneurs, to succeed online, Meesho is democratizing internet commerce and bringing a range of products and new customers online. The Meesho marketplace provides small businesses, which includes SMBs, MSMEs and individual entrepreneurs, access to millions of customers, selection from over 700+ categories, pan-India logistics, payment services and customer support capabilities to efficiently run their businesses on the Meesho ecosystem.

CoinSwitch Completes Maiden ESOP Buyback Within 20 Months Of India Launch

CoinSwitch, India's largest Crypto unicorn, completed its first-ever ESOP buyback worth $2.5 million (INR 19 crore approx.) within 20 months of operating in India. The company is growing at a rapid clip as India explores and adopts digital assets and is committed to sharing the benefits and creating wealth for its employees.

In less than two years, CoinSwitch has grown from 20 to 500 employees as it expands its wealth-tech offering and builds one of India's first Web3 teams.

In September 2021, CoinSwitch raised $260 million in Series C funding from Coinbase Ventures and Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) to become India's most valued Crypto Unicorn at a valuation of $1.9 billion. Other investors include Tiger Global, Sequoia Capital, Ribbit Capital, Paradigm. CoinSwitch is a16z's first investment in an Indian startup and Tiger Global's first investment in an Indian crypto company. 

"The Equity Buyback program is a small effort to acknowledge our employees' contribution to the phenomenal growth of CoinSwitch. Over 15 million users trust CoinSwitch in their investment journey, making us the largest Crypto app. We meet and exceed our targets in India because of the amazing team and shall continue to launch similar liquidity events as part of our commitment to creating wealth for all," said Ashish Singhal, Co-founder and CEO, CoinSwitch.

The company is on a mission to simplify Crypto and provide a safe and trusted platform for users to make informed decisions — to 'make money equal for all'. Between January 2021 and January 2022, the registered user base grew from a little more than 1 million to 15 million, making CoinSwitch the largest Crypto app in India.

The company now plans to provide on its platform other asset classes and financial products to be the wealth-tech destination for every Indian.

About CoinSwitch

Founded in 2017 by Ashish Singhal, Govind Soni, and Vimal Sagar as a global aggregator of crypto exchanges, CoinSwitch is India's largest and most valued crypto unicorn with 15 million registered users. Today, users can choose from over 90 cryptos, including Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Solana. The company started its India operations in June 2020 to make Crypto trading easy and simple for users. Backed by reputed investors including Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), Tiger Global, Sequoia Capital, Ribbit Capital, Paradigm, and Coinbase Ventures, CoinSwitch is creating an ecosystem that simplifies trading in Crypto for its users. For more information, visit: www.coinswitch.co

Accenture Q2 Result Read-Through: Solid Revenue Performance; Raises FY22 Guidance Further

* Strong revenue growth momentum continues in consulting and outsourcing businesses: Accenture's (ACN) revenues rose 24.5% YoY to USD15.05bn (28% in local currency or LC) in Q2, well ahead of its guided range of USD14.3bn-USD14.75bn. ACN continues to see strong, broad-based demand across industries, services and geographic markets and continues to gain market share, resulting in a robust overall operating performance and strong order booking. It posted strong double-digit growth in Cloud, Industry X, Security and Interactive. All three service lines, Strategy & Consulting, Technology, and Operations, reported robust double-digit growth. Consulting revenue grew by 29% YoY to USD8.3bn as clients accelerated their digital transformation agenda, including moving to the cloud, embedding security across the enterprise and adopting new technologies. Outsourcing revenue grew at a healthy rate of 19% YoY to USD6.7bn. New bookings were at a record high of USD19.6bn (22% YoY, book-to-bill 1.3x). Consulting bookings stood at USD10.9bn (55.7% YoY, book-to-bill 1.3x) and outsourcing bookings came in at USD8.7bn (8.5% YoY, book-to-bill 1.3x). The operating margin was flat YoY at 13.7%. Quarterly annualized voluntary attrition inched up to 18% from 17% QoQ. The company added 24,179 net employees (3.6% QoQ).

* Broad-based growth across verticals: Growth was driven by Products (34% in LC), CMT (32% in LC), Financial Services (25% in LC), Resources (25% in LC), and Health & Public Services (21% in LC). The company continues to see secular demand across its verticals and expects to sustain broad-based growth momentum in the coming quarters.

*  FY22 revenue growth guidance raised to 24-26%: ACN upgraded its FY22 revenue growth guidance to 24-26% in LC from 19-22% guided earlier on the back of a superior revenue performance in Q2 and secular demand trends. The guidance assumes a negative 3% foreign exchange impact on USD revenues and the impact of discontinued operations in Russia (~2,300 employees), but it does not include assumptions for a significant escalation of the conflict and its economic disruptions. The operating margin is expected to expand by 10bps to 15.2% (earlier expected 10-30bps expansion). ACN expects OCF and FCF to be in the range of USD8.7-9.2bn and USD8-8.5bn, respectively (earlier USD8.4-8.9bn and USD7.7-8.2bn). ACN expects Q3FY22 revenues to be in the range of USD15.7-16.15bn, up 22-26% YoY in LC.

* Earnings call takeaways: Q2 revenues came in USD300mn higher than the upper end of the guided range on the back of secular demand and over-delivery across geographies, verticals and services. Management indicated that the increasing need for speed, compressed transformation initiatives and acceleration in the cloud journey is driving better-than-expected demand. ACN continues to gain market share and is currently growing at 3x market growth. ACN spent ~USD1.8bn on 28 acquisitions in H1 and retained its plan to invest ~USD4bn on M&A in FY22. FY22 revenue guidance continues to assume ~5% contribution from M&A. ACN signed deals worth over USD100mn with 36 clients in Q2. While the business environment remained competitive, pricing improved across businesses in Q2. The company is increasing pricing and changing the mix of people to reduce the impact of compensation increases on margin; however, the impact of pricing improvements is lagging the impact of compensation increases.

* Read-through for Indian IT peers: ACN's another strong revenue beat and upward revision in revenue growth guidance for FY22 (~USD2bn increase) indicate a robust demand environment. Broad-based healthy demand, strong revenue growth (20% YoY in H1) and healthy order booking in outsourcing (12.5% YoY in H1 on the back of 21% in FY21) augur well for Indian IT peers. ACN is facing some margin pressure due to wage inflation and elevated attrition amid tight labor markets; however, a conducive environment for price increases will support the margins. The Nifty IT index was up 2.9%/down 2.7%/up 36.1% in the last 1M/3M/12M vs. 0.1%/1.8%/18.7% growth in the Nifty. We believe that a strong demand environment, sustained acceleration in revenue growth, margin support from weaker rupee and robust order booking will support higher valuations. Our pecking order is INFO, WPRO, TECHM, HCLT and TCS among Tier-1 names, and PSYS, MPHL, ROUTE, BSOFT, ECLX and FSOL in mid-caps.

AffordPlan Forges Pan India Partnership With Milann Fertility & Birthing Hospitals

* The partnership will help realise their collective vision of providing access to affordable fertility treatments in India

AffordPlan, a healthcare finance company, announced a partnership with Milann Fertility & Birthing Hospitals, to extend affordable and accessible fertility treatments to couples on their journey to parenthood. With this partnership, AffordPlan’s Swasth card holders can avail fertility services at any Milann centres across India and enjoy cost savings on treatments.

Aditya Sharma, CEO of AffordPlan on the partnership said, “AffordPlan’s mission is to make healthcare finance easy and affordable and with this partnership, we broaden our impact area to fertility needs of the country. Research indicates that 10-15 percent of married couples in India face infertility. Our hope is to be able to provide individuals access to state-of-the-art equipment, experts, and highly individualised treatment plans of Milann Fertility & Birthing Hospitals so that if there is a chance of having a baby, one is assured of the medical advice necessary to get there.”

Mr. Shailesh Guntu, CEO – Milann Fertility & Birthing Hospitals & Director-Healthcare Services – HCGEL on their tie-up with AffordPlan comments, “Since its inception, Milann’s endeavour has been to redefine high-tech fertility care in India by offering individuals access to advanced medical diagnosis and treatment options available in the field of Assisted Reproduction Technology (ART) at an affordable cost. Our partnership with Affordplan simply enhances our mission and we will continually strive to make fertility treatments essential and affordable”.

Affordplan is on a mission to enable healthcare affordability for millions of people through innovative financial solutions. They aim to bring accessible, affordable, and high-quality healthcare to the world and believe that planning for medical expenses is no longer limited to taking an insurance cover or a medical loan; it's a systematic pursuit.

About Affordplan

Launched in 2016, Affordplan is a first-of-its-kind fintech platform, which is at the intersection of finance, healthcare, and technology. They’ve partnered with hundreds of hospitals across 15 cities, having touched more than 5,00,000 patient lives through their product. Swasth – their current innovation is a healthcare savings card launched in collaboration with YES BANK, that can be used across OPD, IPD, lab, and pharmacy services. Affordplan Swasth offers a full stack of financial services for healthcare including an OPD wallet, IPD savings, medical loans, and insurance.

About Milann

Milann is one of the leading fertility & birthing chains in India with its presence at 5 locations in Bangalore and 3 in the north India (Delhi, Chandigarh & Gurugram). Having a legacy of over 30 years, we at Milann have helped over 1,00,000 couples experience the joy of parenthood and the number just keeps increasing. We have been providing the best medical treatment for patients giving access to advanced medical diagnosis and treatment options available in the field of Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART) through state of the art NABL accredited facility lab with hi-tech amenities and well trained doctors and embryologists which give patients a significantly higher chance for pregnancy and delivery.

Godrej Locks & Architectural Fittings And Systems Announces The Winners Of The First Ever GeeVees Awards

* The inaugural award show saw over 350 participations in total

* The ceremony had over 34 winners across 10  categories

* The award itself was designed by renowned sculptor and artist, Arzan Khambatta

Godrej Locks & Architectural Fittings and Systems (GLAFS), the business unit of Godrej & Boyce, the flagship company of the Godrej Group, hosted the very first edition of The GeeVees. These awards was conceptualized to celebrate the most innovative and conscious ideas in architecture and interior design community. Held virtually on 19th March, 2022, the inaugural edition of the awards witnessed over 350 attendees. The GeeVees was curated by the Festival of Architecture and Interior Design (FOAID) showcasing the theme -Conscious Design.

The GeeVees Awards brought together architects, interior designers, builders, and other associated professionals to connect, learn, and set the bar for the future of the industry. The environmental impact of our consumption has become more apparent, and it is hence critical to employ long-term, sustainable, and circular design techniques. The theme this year on ‘Conscious Design’ was chosen keeping this philosophy in mind. In keeping with the theme of conscious design, efforts were made to incorporate various elements through the awards which were reflected in the trophies made by Mr. Arzan Khambatta, an acclaimed sculptor designer. He designed the award in a way that would be remembered and would stand out in a crowd. The award is composed of resin, brass components and is mounted on a wooden base which overall emphasises sustainable elements.

The GeeVees Awards consisted of a panel of reputed jury members intending to honour exceptional designers and projects like Bill Bensley - Bill Bensley - Bangkok – Thailand, Yatin Patel – Founder & Principal – DSP Design, Hiren Patel – Architect & Interior Designer, Supraja Rao – Architect, Interior Designer, Art Curator and a Gallerist, Melissa Smith- Architect and Urban Planner- BandukSmith Studio, Rahul Shankhwalker - Studio HBA, New Delhi – India, Rajiv Shroff - Principal Associate - Talati & Partners LLP, Ms. Santha Gaur - Co - Founder Planet 3 Studios Architecture Pvt. Ltd, Chandrashekhar Wyawahare- Director, Co – Founder- Futuring Design, Sonali Bhagwati- President- DPA, Sanjay Gulati- Principal & Managing Director - Gensler, Sourabh Gupta- Managing Director- Archohm Consults Pvt Ltd, Indrajit Kembhavi- Managing Partner- Kembhavi  Architecture Foundation, Nita Kembhavi- Partner- Kembhavi  Architecture Foundation.

Mr. Shyam Motwani, EVP & Business Head at Godrej Locks & Architectural Fittings and Systems, added that, “Our country is endowed with a vast and largely untapped reservoir of rich artisanal and modern skill sets; all that is required is for them to channel their creativity towards the needs of their audience. We acknowledge all the members of the design community for their exemplary contribution and bringing about a profound transformation in the designing space. The purpose of the awards was to honour the efforts of the young talent who through their dedication have not only progressed the quality of sustainable architecture but also enriched the lives of the society.

Architects and interior designers play a very important role in building a planet that is sustainable and safer for our future generations. With GeeVees, we want to build a nexus of thought leaders who are passionate about our planet and will rally to inspire like-minded professionals towards building designs that leave a positive impact on our society.

Our hope and vision for the GeeVees is that it becomes one of the most coveted platforms in India for architects and interior designs, one that gives these individuals an opportunity to showcase their passion for innovation, design and sustainability – because that kind of passion is also what we at Godrej & Boyce stand for."

The esteemed jury of The GeeVees, also shared a joint statement on the same- “The GeeVees Awards provided a platform for young designers to shine, as well as an opportunity for us to share our expertise with them. I would like to express my gratitude to GLAFS for providing support to the ever resilient designing community. Every participant exemplifies a commitment towards bringing a revolutionary concept, and I look forward to seeing the impact of their diverse perspectives and outlook to make a positive impact on the community. The projects submitted were pioneering examples of how designers have begun to bring forward creative and unique approaches that will inspire the industry – and the world at large – to aim toward conscious designs and solutions while also advocating to think more consciously.”

Gold Winners:

1.      Safest Residential:

Abhishek Talawat, Luxury Space Design for Nikitha's Residence

2.      Safest Commercial:

Dharmendra Jain, D’Stroke Interiors for Sandhi Lekhara Karyalay (C.A Office)

3.      Hospitality

Rohit Bhatkar, Tangents Design Cell for Triose

4.      Healthcare:

Rahul Kadri, IMK Architects for Auric Hall

5.      Educational:

Suparna Ghosh, Forum Architecture for Adharshila School Extension Project

6.      Commercial Space Small:

Puran Kumar, Studio PKA for THE SHELL

7.      Commercial Space large:

Anishka Maiti, Folds Design Studio for RUPA RENNAISSANCE, IT PARK

8.      Multi-Unit:

Dexter Fernandes, UNEVEN for 33 LE

9.      Kitchen:

Rachana Goyam, Midas Luxury Interiors

10.  Private Residence:

Puran Kumar, Studio PKA for The Canvas

Below are the People’s Choice Winners who were selected by an online poll.

1.      Hospitality:

Shriya Parasrampuria, Blurring Boundaries for An Oasis in Mumbai!

2.      Healthcare:

Nikhita Singh, Scapesmiths for Lavanya Laser & Plastic surgery Clinic

3.      Educational:

Chetan GB, Shuonya Nava Designs for K R E I S G U R U K U L

4.      Commercial Space Small:

Prashant Paradava / Shweeta Rathod, PDC ARCHITECTS for Orbit Vapi sales office

5.      Commercial Space large:

Shourya Patel, UNEVEN for V3

6.      Multi Unit:

Dexter Fernandes, UNEVEN for 33 LE

7.      Kitchen:

Asad Khan, ID+AS (integrated Design + Architecture Studio ) for  The Cube House

8.      Private Residence:

Srikrishnan Pandurangan, PG Associates for Treehouse A treaty between man and nature

Owing to the pandemic, the GeeVees was hosted virtually while ensuring that the ceremony was an engaging and gratifying experience. The event was hosted by actor Shruti Seth and had a soulful music performance by the band Satyug. The prestigious occasion was celebrated with great zeal and ignited the joy and honour of the designing community.

All the submitted entries were well executed, reflecting this year’s agenda around Conscious Design. The award has been conceived as an extension of the Godrej Value Co-Creators Club that was launched by the brand, earlier this year. Currently, there are over 1000 architects who are part of this incentive program.

About Godrej Locks & Architectural Fittings and Systems:  

Godrej Locks is a 123-year-old leading manufacturer of innovative locking devices. Since its inception in 1897 by Ardeshir Godrej, the name ‘Godrej’ has become synonymous with trust, protection and integrity. From the first Anchor branded lock in 1897 to the first ever spring less lock in 1907, to the iconic 'Nav-Tal' in 1954, and to the postmodern biometric locks, Godrej has set every benchmark in the locks industry. Over the years, Godrej Locks and Architectural Hardware & Fittings have changed in form, function and scope of application. But one thing still remains the same – the solid stamp of trust and reliability. Godrej Locks adhere to global quality norms and hold ISO 9001, ISO 14001 and OHSAS 18001 certifications. 

Beyond Locking solutions, the brand also caters to Architectural Fittings, creating innovative, premium, comprehensive hardware solutions. The range which consists of door, furniture and glass fittings has been designed to fit perfectly into today’s hi-tech residential and commercial establishments. Most products caters to needs for safety, privacy, fire & smoke checks and energy saving with ease. These devices meet international quality standards like UL Rating, EN Rating, CE Certification and fire-rated.

The Kitchen Fittings by Godrej Locks & Architectural Fittings and Systems includes SKIDO, i.e. Smart Kitchen Drawers & Organisers - an innovative range of smart kitchen storage solutions, designed in India to meet the unique requirements of the Indian Kitchen. The Godrej Cartini range of knives- showcase cutting-edge design, a fine quality blade and the highest level of durability. These premium kitchen and hobby equipment range are also made in India, to suit home and professional needs.

The brand has come a long way in delivering world-class smart locking solutions. For more information, log on to https://www.godrej.com/godrej-locking-solutions-and-systems 

Godrej Locks is a business unit of?Godrej & Boyce Mfg. Co. Ltd.

HCL Foundation Organised Two-week Vaccination Drive Across Bengaluru

HCL Foundation (HCLF), the CSR (corporate social responsibility) arm of HCL Technologies, under its flagship urban community development program HCL Uday and in partnership with Society for Community Health Awareness Research and Action (SOCHARA) and Swathi Mahila Sangha NGO organized two week-long vaccination camps in Maya Bazaar and Anandapuram, in Bangalore’s urban district. To commemorate National Vaccination Day and strengthen our fight against COVID-19.