Epson Conducts Raids Of Counterfeit Ink And Ribbon Cartridge Manufacturing Units In Mumbai And Chennai

* 2,168 no. of counterfeit bottles and 64 no. of ribbon cartridges were seized by police during the raids.

In an effort to curb the sale of counterfeit ink bottles and ribbon cartridges and to protect the rights of its customers, Epson has recently increased its vigilance with regard to the manufacture and sale of counterfeit Epson Ink bottles and Ribbon Cartridges. Based on the Epson vigilance team’s information, the police, in a swift and well-coordinated action, recently raided the premises of Retailers and Manufacturers of Counter Ink Bottles at West Bhandup (Mumbai), Chinthadripet (Chennai) and Sewree (Mumbai). These retailers and manufacturers were involved in the manufacture and supply of counterfeit Epson Ink bottles and ribbon cartridges in Mumbai, Chennai and surrounding areas. The manufacturers of the Epson counterfeit Ink bottles and ribbon cartridges were arrested and charged under the prevailing laws of the land with counterfeiting and violating intellectual property rights and subsequently remanded to judicial custody. Large quantities of finished and unfinished cartridges, packaging materials, and numerous sets of labels and holograms have been seized. The seized materials are worth more than 2 million rupees.

A spokesperson at Seiko Epson Corporation said, “We acknowledge and applaud the effort of the police in Mumbai and Chennai to curb this menace. We will actively assist and support the law enforcement authorities in such crack downs.” He went on to say, “Epson takes great care to observe the law and regulations, and to maintain high standards of corporate ethics while at the same time expecting others to show appropriate respect for its rights. We will continue vigorous enforcement of our intellectual property rights to protect our innovative products against those who use Epson's patented technology, trademarks, and other intellectual property without permission.”

Seiko Epson Corporation says it will continue to protect its interests and to protect the business of its authorized dealers in the future through such raids.

About Epson

Epson is a global technology leader dedicated to co-creating sustainability and enriching communities by leveraging its efficient, compact, and precision technologies and digital technologies to connect people, things, and information. The company is focused on solving societal issues through innovations in home and office printing, commercial and industrial printing, manufacturing, visual and lifestyle. Epson will become carbon negative and eliminate the use of exhaustible underground resources such as oil and metal by 2050.

Led by the Japan-based Seiko Epson Corporation, the worldwide Epson Group generates annual sales of around JPY 1 trillion. https://global.epson.com/

FarMart Raises $32M (INR 244 Cr) Series B Led By General Catalyst To Scale Its SaaS-Led Food Supply Platform

FarMart, India’s first SaaS-led food supply platform, secures a $32M Series B round led by General Catalyst, with participation from existing investors, Matrix Partners India and Omidyar Network India. Elluminate Capital acted as the exclusive financial advisor to FarMart on the transaction. This new infusion of funds will fuel the growth of FarMart’s digital distribution network across India and to export markets. The company also plans to make key investments into R&D, automation and technology.

This announcement comes just 6 months after FarMart’s $10M Series A in October 2021 and brings the total capital raised to $48M (INR 366 crores). Since then, FarMart has established itself as the top agri-retailer SaaS tool in the country - with 60,000 retailers serving 2 million farmers through its mobile app. The company has also scaled its output linkage offering, distributed via its app users, to over 600 districts in India, with 75,000 metric tonnes of high-quality produce sourced till now across 15+ commodities.

FarMart’s success lies in their ability to use tech and data to source at scale and use underutilized assets in the food value chain to build a high growth and contribution margin profitable business. By digitizing and incentivizing the rural agri-retailer, FarMart has created a one-stop-hub for farmers to buy input and sell output in close proximity to their farms. This alternative, asset-light, food value chain eliminates the multiple transportation costs, spillages, and time effort involved for both the producer and the end-buyer.

“We have built a retailer-centric solution at the intersection of data, hyperlocal serviceability and underutilized assets. The entire team is driven by the ambition and opportunity to build India’s largest food supply platform. I would like to thank General Catalyst and our existing investors for providing us with the thrust to achieve our ambition of building the world’s first OS that powers food value chains.” says Alekh Sanghera, CEO and Cofounder, FarMart

“Farmers have to travel 25-30 kilometers to access a formal marketplace. Leveraging the proximity, social capital and infrastructure of these agri-retailers, we are able to source directly from farmers in a capital efficient and non-linear manner. Removing excessive intermediaries helps in providing better prices to farmers, reduces direct cost and reduces spillages/wastage up to 10-15%”, explains Mehtab Singh Hans, Cofounder, FarMart

“Since we first met Alekh, Mehtab, and the FarMart team we knew they had a unique distribution approach to building India's largest food sourcing SaaS platform. The fast-growing B2B platform activates critical connections between farmers and agri-retailers, enabling millions of farmers to supply fresh produce to consumers all over India, creating powerful, positive change for these stakeholders. We are honored and excited to be a partner in the FarMart journey," said Deep Nishar, Managing Director, General Catalyst (lead investor)

“FarMart’s SaaS-led approach has transformed the way in which farmers and agri-input retailers carry out their business. The business model innovation combined with Alekh & Mehtab’s on-ground execution has enabled FarMart to grow rapidly over the last 12 months while being profitable at the contribution margin level. We are super excited to continue to deepen our relationship with FarMart and welcome General Catalyst to the partnership,” said Sudipto Sannigrahi, Principal, Matrix India

“FarMart is revolutionizing the agri-tech ecosystem by enabling agri-retailers to serve farmers better and improve farmer income by providing access to information, advisory, and market linkages. Their ability to scale rapidly using technology while being capital efficient is unique and we are excited to see the key role they play in building a transparent and financially rewarding value chain for farmers and the Next Half Billion." says Siddharth Nautiyal, Partner, Omidyar Network India.

About FarMart:

FarMart enables agri-retailers to serve their farmers better and provide them with market access by building an alternative food value chain that is transparent and financially rewarding for both farmers and businesses. It is building the world’s first Operating System powering food value chains to connect Indian farmers to billions across the globe.

About General Catalyst:

General Catalyst is a venture capital firm that invests in powerful, positive change that endures — for our entrepreneurs, our investors, our people, and society.  We support founders with a long-term view who challenge the status quo, partnering with them from seed to growth stage and beyond to build companies that withstand the test of time. With offices in San Francisco, Palo Alto, New York City, London, and Boston, the firm has helped support the growth of businesses such as: Airbnb, Deliveroo, Guild, Gusto, Hubspot, Illumio, Lemonade, Livongo, Oscar, Samsara, Snap, Stripe, and Warby Parker. For more: www.generalcatalyst.com.

About Matrix Partners:

Founded in 2006, the firm invests in companies targeting the Indian consumer and enterprise market at the seed, early and early growth stages. Matrix India has invested in several category-leading B2B companies such as OfBusiness (B2B Commerce, fintech), Captain Fresh (a tech-enabled B2B animal protein marketplace), LoadShare (tech-enabled logistics network),  Bijnis (B2B fashion & footwear marketplace), Vegrow (B2B marketplace for fruits), and Saveo (B2B e-commerce marketplace for pharmacies).

Other marquee investments include Ola (mobility), Dailyhunt (mobile local language platform), Razorpay (payments), Five Star Business Finance (SME lending), Ola Electric (electric vehicles), Stanza Living (tech-enabled student housing platform), OneCard (mobile-first credit card), DealShare (social commerce platform), Country Delight (D2C dairy & fresh foods brand), Mswipe (mobile POS), GoKwik (e-commerce enablement platform), and Zupee (leading skill-based gaming app) among others. Matrix India has advisory offices in Bangalore, Delhi and Mumbai. Matrix Partners has a global network of funds investing in the US, China and India, with approximately $5 billion under management. Further information is available at www.matrixpartners.in. To know more about our investment philosophy & ideologies, check out the #MatrixMoments podcast series.

About Omidyar Network India:

Omidyar Network India invests in bold entrepreneurs who help create a meaningful life for every Indian, especially the hundreds of millions of Indians in low-income and lower-middle-income populations, ranging from the poorest among us to the existing middle class. To drive empowerment and social impact at scale, we work with entrepreneurs in the private, nonprofit, and public sectors, who are tackling India’s hardest and most chronic problems.

We make equity investments in early-stage enterprises and provide grants to nonprofits in the areas of Digital Society, Education, Emerging Tech, Financial Inclusion, Governance and Citizen Engagement, and Property Rights. Omidyar Network India is part of The Omidyar Group, a diverse collection of companies, organizations, and initiatives, supported by philanthropists Pam and Pierre Omidyar, founder of eBay.

Union Bank of India - HR Receives ISO 30414:2018 – Certification

*  International Standard For Human Capital Reporting 

Union Bank of India – HR Vertical received the prestigious ISO 30414:2018 Certification, having successfully implemented the Human Resources Capital Management System as per International Standard. 

This Certificate has been issued by an Independent Certification body, M/s. RIR Certification Pvt. Ltd. (accredited by IAS, USA) which has been providing Certification & Inspection services in various countries 

Union Bank of India has embarked on an ambitious HR Transformation project “Union Prerna” which includes revamping & digitization of various HR systems & processes, giving impetus to the ISO standardization process. 

The ISO 30414:2018 certification is an added accolade achieved by Union Bank of India in the field of Human Resources in addition to  being  ranked  high in the “Governance and Outcome - Centric Human Resources”  theme of the   PSB Reforms  Index     EASE 3.0 for FY 2020-21. 

The ISO 30414:2018 Human Capital internal & external reporting standards provide guidelines to help organizations produce credible human capital reports and analytics for effective management as well as for public disclosure of human capital data to regulators & stakeholders. The ISO 30414:2018 certification has helped the Union Bank establish globally accepted standards for measuring and evaluating human resources value creation. 

RFPIO Announces Global Expansion And Strengthen Its Leadership Team To Drive Growth

* Astrid Masle-Boer has joined as Vice President of Sales to lead the company’s international expansion

RFPIO, the leading response management platform, today announces the appointment of Astrid Masle-Boer as vice president of sales to lead the company’s expansion plans and continue advancing its international presence in EMEA and APAC. With an estimated 20% of the company’s revenue from the EMEA and APAC in 2021, RFPIO further aims to expand its international presence with the new leadership team.

In the last six months, the company has witnessed a strong growth trajectory on the heels of two acquisitions including the acquisition of RFP360 to bolster best-in-class response management solutions for organizations of all sizes and InHub, a leading RFx management solution for the investment community. RFPIO also preparing for a year of expansion through investments in hiring and product development.

“A transformation in sales analytics and AI is redefining the way B2B organizations buy and sell. The process has been cumbersome and slow for too long,” says Ganesh Shankar, CEO and co-founder of RFPIO. “Growth leaders have realized they need to prioritize response management and there is a global need. With a huge market opportunity, Ms. Masle-Boer will play a key role in the creation and execution of RFPIO’s global strategy by adding team members and forming new alliances to expand its presence.”

Since its founding six years ago, RFPIO’s product vision has evolved to meet the market needs and include stakeholders well beyond the sales team. The platform's user base grew by an estimated 105,000 since the start of 2021 alone.

“Astrid is an outstanding addition to our leadership team. She is a proven sales leader with a demonstrated ability to build strategic relationships and will help RFPIO scale international operations.” continued Shankar. “As organizations embrace new work methodologies and environments, Astrid will play a critical role in ensuring that RFPIO’s offering aligns with what our customers need to meet their revenue goals.”

To learn more about RFPIO,  visit www.rfpio.com/.

About RFPIO

RFPIO is the market leader in response management software, trusted by some of the world's smartest companies to support RFP and security questionnaire response, create and manage sales proposals, and resolve inefficiencies rooted in decentralized and inaccessible content and knowledge. The software's robust and bi-directional integrations, along with an open API, allow teams to digitally transform response management processes and to harness the power of the knowledge and content across their teams. RFPIO supports response management for growing organizations of all sizes including Google, Adobe, Atlassian, Microsoft, Tenable, Zoom Video and others.

Dr. C. Sharat Babu Honoured With Award For His Achievement In Field Of Medicine –Ophthalmology By Rotary International

*  Dr.Sharat operated 17,000 Free cataract Eye surgeries on poor patients in the last 3 decades

Dr C. Sharat Babu, Managing Partner of Sharat Maxivision Eye Hospitals has been honoured with the Rotarian Recognition award for his outstanding achievement in the field of medicine –Ophthalmology by Rotary International. Dr. Sharat Babu has been felicitated at a conference of Rotary International (District 3150) in the city. K.Prabhakar – District Governor - Rotary International (District 3150) handed over the certificate of excellence to Dr.Sharat on the occasion.

Speaking on the occasion Dr. C. Sharat Babu, Managing partner of Sharat Maxivision Eye Hospitals said, We started our journey as Sharat Laser Eye Hospital in 1993 as part of an Integrated Rural Development Model in the remote rural area of Erstwhile Warangal district of Telangana, India and have been on the path to comprehensive and quality eye care since then. We also achieved the distinction of being the first and the only centre to provide ophthalmic subspecialty treatment in Telangana districts.

Sharat Maxivision Eye Hospital is a pioneer in actively translating all the public health principles and concepts through promoting a “Comprehensive Rural Health Model " for the last 30 years in rural Telangana, India with a mission to “serve the rural poor & marginalized sections of society”.

In 2019 October we made a giant leap in our endeavour of providing healthy eye care by merging our Sharat Eye Hospital with Maxivision Eye Hospitals, one of the leading super speciality eye care networks in South India. We are now under the name Dr Sharat Maxivision Eye Hospitals LLP. We are currently serving in Warangal, Karimnagar, Khammam and this year we are coming up with 2 more tertiary care centres and 6 Secondary centres. We are very happy to get associated with Operational Eyesight Universal, Canada Under this association we have established 6 Vision Centres 1. Mulkanoor and 2.Kothakonda, 3.Mulugu, 4. Asifabad, 5.Narsampet and 6.Parkal delivers primary eye care for the needy and comes up with 50 vision centres in Telangana in the next 3 years. 

We have adopted 44 villages in and around the Warangal district where we have performed approximately appx 17,000 free Cataract surgeries till date. We have declared 16 villages as the Avoidable blind free villages and 8 are in pipeline to be declared. 

Avoidable blindness free village is a concept that has been developed, tested and achieved by Operation Eyesight which ensures that all villagers irrespective of gender, caste and creed are provided with an opportunity to undergo eye check-ups and treated for curable eye conditions and regain their lost vision, a project team consisting Community Health Workers (CHWs), Project Coordinator and optometrist who are selected from the project area and trained in the eye and general health care include the methodology of conducting door to door survey, identify eye problems, behaviour change communication etc. The project covers a target population of 1-1.5 lakhs and continues to provide eye health services for 4 years till all the villages are declared as avoidable blindness free village

As a result of the project intervention in these underserved areas, the target communities were benefitted through various activities from the project. This in turn led to the elimination of “Avoidable Blindness Free Villages” (ABFV) in some of the underserved areas of rural Telangana.

In 2019 We have started Community Based Diabetic Retinopathy (CBDR) Project and did the staff recruitment, training and did the 50% of the population survey in the Warangal district which we have resumed last year due to covid-19 pandemic.

Photo Caption::  Left to right: PDG Ratna Prabhakar A, District Governor K Prabhakar, PDG Dr C Sharat Babu, PDG Ravi Vadlamani

Honda Power Products Forays Into Marine Outboard Business In India

* Offering perfect solution for maritime operations

Honda India Power Products Limited (HIPP), India's leading and best-in-class power product manufacturer, and the market leader in the Power Products category for the past 36 years, today announced entry into Marine Outboard business with its 4-stroke Marine Outboard Motors range in India from April 2022.

The Honda 4-stroke Marine Outboard Motor is the finest choice for boat operators participating in maritime border security, taxi boat operations in tourism & leisure applications, and workboat operators in commercial fishing. Strategic application of this cutting-edge, substantially superior technology aids in smooth and optimised performance and operation in both sea and inland river systems.

Commenting on the launch, Mr. Takahiro Ueda – Chairman and Managing Director, President and CEO at Honda India Power Products Limited said— “We are happy to announce the introduction of Honda 4-stroke Marine Outboard Motors range today for the boat operators and various government agencies engaged in maritime security, coast guard, taxi boat services for passengers and tourist, and fishermen engaged in commercial fishing in sea and inland river systems. Honda 4-stroke OBMs offer unmatched performance, durability, fuel efficiency, and environment-friendly solution and have been customer’s preferred choice across the world. Today’s announcement reaffirms our 36 years legacy in India of offering a well-diversified product range of Power Products catering to the power back-up, agriculture, construction and now, marine segment.”

He further added “With proper market planning, customer-friendly approach as seen in our motto, “Empower people, to do better'' coupled with our environment-conscious efforts, we aim to provide perfect solutions for those people engaged in maritime operations, yet establish a robust and sustainable ecosystem powered by Honda 4-stroke OBM technology. We aim to leverage our long-standing patronage in the Indian market, opening up avenues for collaboration with government agencies and private sector utilities through our channel partners to develop India marine market to its full potential.”

The marine industry is expected to rise to as high as INR 1,400 crore with HIPP aiming to capture 10 % market share in the 4-stroke market in the first 3 years. The announcement will strengthen a seamless voyage across India’s vast coastline of over 8,000 km opening marketable opportunities in places like Kashmir, Andaman’s, Goa, and Kerala that will boost economic prosperity. The advanced hi-tech Honda 4-stroke OBM range is expected to emerge as a leading trade name in maritime activity in these areas.

PHOTO CAPTION - (L-R): Mr. Gagan Pal, Vice President and Head of Sales, Marketing, and Service, and Mr. Takahiro Ueda, CMD and President and CEO. 

OPPO Is All Set To Launch The Flaunt-Worthy And Power Packed F21 Pro Series On April 12, In India

* F21 Pro’s Sunset Orange sports industry-first Fibreglass-Leather design and ultra-slim retro design

Leading global smart-device brand, OPPO, will launch its much-awaited F21 Pro series on April 12, 2022, in India. 

The retro-styled F21 Pro’s Sunset Orange variant sports OPPO’s industry-first Fibreglass-Leather design on its back that doubles as a ‘frameless’ battery cover to make the phone thin, light and durable. After two years of research and refinement, OPPO’s engineers chose lychee-grain leather for the base material because of its plush feel. 

The lychee grain leather material is waterproof and also heavily wear-resistant. The finished material is subjected to extreme lab tests that involve rubbing the material with an alcohol-soaked pad, a rubber eraser, and a denim swatch over 5,000, 10,000, and 2,00,000 times respectively, to ensure its colour fidelity and durability.

The Cosmic Black variant of the F21 Pro uses OPPO Glow technology to make the back cover look glossy while giving it a matte-in-hand feel that is fingerprint- and stain-resistant.

The OPPO F21 Pro 5G will be available in two colour variants, Rainbow Spectrum and Cosmic Black. For the Rainbow Spectrum colour, OPPO uses a ‘three-layer texture and a two-layer coating’ manufacturing process to give the phone its dazzling rainbow appearance. 

Get set to #FlauntYourBest, block your calendar for complete specifications and pricing, during the official launch event.

About OPPO Mobiles India Private Limited

OPPO is a leading global smart device brand. Since the launch of its first mobile phone “Smiley Face” in 2008, OPPO has been in relentless pursuit of the perfect synergy of aesthetic satisfaction and innovative technology. Today, OPPO provides a wide range of smart devices spearheaded by the Find and Reno series. Beyond devices, OPPO provides its users with the ColorOS operating system and internet services like OPPO Cloud and OPPO+. OPPO operates in more than 50 countries and regions where more than 40,000 OPPO's employees are dedicated to creating a better life for customers around the world.