Gurgaon Based Geospatial Intelligence - Intents Mobi - Startup Raised Rs 1.5 Crore

*    Raises funds on “The Barbershop with Shantanu”

*     Funds will be used to ensure continual growth of products

*     To invest in data & solutions – main aspects of the product

* Looking to raise $ 3 million for expedited growth

Intents Mobi, a Gurgaon based geospatial intelligence startup today announced that it has raised Rs 1.5 CR.  The funding was raised on “The Barbershop with Shantanu” helmed by Shantanu Deshpande, Founder – The Bombay Shaving Company. The round saw participation from prominent executives from various organizations.

Founded by Tabrez Alam, Naresh Kumar Kachhi, Balasubramaniam S and Prakash Velusamy, the company is now 19 people strong with 13 members purely focussing on the technology development. With a small team, the company has been able to create AI based technology to process large scale data. Their engines gather and process road data worth more than 4.5 crore kilometers per day with more than 5 terabytes of image data processed each month. The company utilises a network of ‘Scouts’ which is a gig economy of over 900,000 users who contribute to the data generation for location intelligence.

Speaking on the occasion, Tabrez Alam, Founder - Intents Mobi, said, “The new funds will be utilised to ensure the continual growth of products. We shall invest in the two major aspects of the product, which are data and solutions. With this round we expect to launch 2 new products that are aimed at making location intelligence accessible to Market Research and Fleet Management companies"

Elaborating, Shantanu Deshpande said, ‘Tabrez and Naresh are building a disruptive technology company out of India and it is very exciting for us. They have credibility as founders, knowledge of the space and drive. We are thrilled to partner with them on this journey.’

Intents Mobi will deploy the current fundraise to ensure ongoing pace in it’s continual growth. The company is also looking at raising 3 million dollars for expedited growth. Intents Mobi has some of the biggest names in various industries as their clients, including Here Maps, TomTom and Honda among others.

About Intents Mobi: 

Founded by Tabrez Alam, Naresh Kumar Kachhi, Balasubramaniam S and Prakash Velusamy, Intents Mobi is a Geospatial Intelligence startup. With a team of 19, the company utilises a network of ‘Scouts’ which is a community of over 900,000 users who contribute to the data generation for location intelligence.

Godrej Material Handling Eyes 28% Market Share Of Electric Forklifts In India By FY24

~ Godrej & Boyce scales up its Good & Green vision; aims to reduce carbon footprint with green forklifts

~ Electric Forklift trucks account for 65% of the market share in India and are expected to witness a rise in demand of 12-15% by FY24

~Owing to a rise in demand for green forklifts in the manufacturing industry, Godrej Material Handling will be doubling its production capacity between FY22 and FY24

Godrej & Boyce, the flagship company of the Godrej Group, has announced that its business Godrej Material Handling has strengthened its portfolio in the green products category, eyeing 28% market share of Electric Forklifts in India by FY24. As India’s manufacturing industry is continuously transforming, it is not only witnessing significant industrial development but a conscious adoption of green manufacturing processes by corporate India. Godrej & Boyce is well-known for its commitment to sustainability and environmental stewardship. With a focus on green forklifts, the business is taking a major stride towards reducing its carbon footprint and creating a more sustainable future for the manufacturing sector in India.

As a part of Godrej & Boyce’s Good & Green initiative that ensures each business generates a share of its revenue from environmentally responsible products and solutions, Godrej Material Handling generates approx. 20% of its business is from such products. The electric forklift is an addition to this portfolio and is committed to providing a consumer experience that is technologically more enhanced and efficient. Electric-powered forklifts have operation costs as low as 20% and are highly maneuverable and versatile which gives them an edge over Diesel forklift trucks. The three electric forklifts offered by Godrej Material Handling are UNO, Bravo, and NEO. The Bravo electric series and Godrej PRO series reach truck offer easy-to-operate machinery that is safer for the environment and increases productivity in demanding applications and narrow spaces.

Commenting on this, Neville Mevawala, Head of Sales & Marketing, Godrej Material Handling, Godrej & Boyce says, “At Godrej Material Handling, we are continuously working towards increasing the share of our Good & Green products. We believe that it is not just the right choice to make but also one that has huge economic value. With this, we aim to bring products and solutions to the market that make the supply chain and logistics segment in India more efficient and sustainable. Switching from an ICE forklift to an emission-free forklift can have a major impact on business operations. The UNO Electric Forklift Truck is designed to provide maximum output. The new UNO platform is 10% more energy efficient than the older version due to low energy loss and a higher Volt system. The usage will lead to a significant reduction of carbon footprints and make material handling operations more efficient. We aim to reduce the need for diesel fuel and its associated emissions."

Owing to the push by the government for Indian manufacturers to adopt sustainable manufacturing operations, there has been a significant shift from Diesel to Electric Forklift Trucks on the shopfloor and in warehouses. Electric trucks account for 65% of the market share, up from 57% four years ago.

The Electric Forklifts that are manufactured by Godrej Material Handling are powerful assets in the 1.5 to 5-tonne forklift class, that feature advanced ergonomics, increased protection, better visibility, and a longer operating time with each charge. With such advanced products, Godrej & Boyce has always been at the forefront of making global technology viable for Indian customers.

Adani Power Strengthens The Fire Alert System At Their Tiroda Plant With Staqu’s AI-powered Video Analytics - JARVIS

*  JARVIS can identify fire events and send real-time alerts to ensure the safety of all

*  Integration can be done with existing CCTV cameras at Adani Power’s Tiroda Thermal Plant

*   Voice alerts and critical emails can be predefined at designated addresses

Staqu, India’s leading AI implementation enabler, has partnered with Adani Power Limited (APL), the largest private thermal power producer in India (part of the diversified Adani Group), to install JARVIS Video Analytics at the company’s Tiroda Thermal Plant. This association will help APL to quickly detect fire and smoke within the plant premises, thereby ensuring better safety.

Traditional fire alert systems were based on bulky and primitive architecture. With the increasing demand for power, large thermal power station campuses require a lean, modern, and hassle-free fire protection system to function with a modern framework. Power plants are being designed as such where structural components are purposefully designed to enable architectural freedom. JARVIS brings revolutionary fire detection technology which can be added or modified into existing systems. It can be configured on a real-time basis making workplaces safer, by preempting and Identifying fire even before there is smoke.

JARVIS’s plug-and-play capability makes it convenient to integrate the system within the existing CCTV camera setup. It automates various protocols related to security or safety, eliminating the possibility of error, and completing tasks that would otherwise be manually impossible. It helps safeguard supercritical plant units with key features such as voice alerts (in case of a fire), critical email alerts (on designated addresses), and dynamic video wall (for multiple camera) views at one go for fire safety and early detection. This helps in better coordination while alerting campus employees and nearby residents, ensuring safety from the get-go.

Commenting on the partnership, Mr Atul Rai Co-founder, and CEO, Staqu said “We believe in pioneering and implementing technological innovations by AI and Deep tech in our solutions to enhance security and safety. JARVIS is our notable product that can be implemented in several ways. We are glad that Adani Power Limited has selected JARVIS, our innovative security measure, to swiftly monitor, detect, and alert fire incidents at their Tiroda Thermal Plant making it the perfect security partner. This will enable them to control fire incidents and help safety teams to be better equipped and respond in case a situation arises.”

Commenting on the partnership, Mr Jayadeb Nanda, COO, Adani Power Limited said “Being a thermal power producer, Adani Power implements cutting edge technology across all our power stations to extract maximum output in the most efficient and safe manner. Similarly, we are very stringent on fire safety and have protocols as a preventative measure. We use smart technology to prevent and control fire incidents. JARVIS offers audio-video analytics and management technology that transforms security cameras to intelligent cameras. Its real-time alerts utilizing AI and Computer Vision will help us to anticipate and detect possible fires. We are looking forward to a long-term association.”

Sharing his thoughts on the partnership, Mr. Nitin Rohilla, CIO, Adani Power Limited, said, “A step forward towards making the plant more secure and fireproof. This collaboration will give a boost to the safety standards in thermal power plants with more high-tech solutions and real-time alerts. We will continue to deploy such technology-driven safety measures in the plant for the welfare of our employees.”

Talking about Adani’s commitment towards the safety of their employees, Mr. Kanti Biswas, Station Head, Adani Power Maharashtra Limited, said, “We are excited to partner with Staqu that provides high-quality preemptive solutions against fire accidents. This partnership will enable us to provide a more secure environment for the employees and strengthen our commitment towards the safety of our workforce.”

Commenting on the partnership, Mr Prakash Yadav, IT Head, Adani Power Maharashtra Limited said, “We are delighted to collaborate with Staqu to provide safety and data analytics through seamless technology. The all-new solution will entitle us to create meaningful information out of long CCTV video footage with short and crisp real-time alerts utilizing AI and Computer Vision.  We are committed to ensuring cutting-edge technologies and designing solutions that help transform processes, improve efficiencies, and enable world-class employee experiences.”

JARVIS enables safety and data analytics through seamless technology. The first advantage is that this platform is plug-and-play, only requiring a stable internet connection. Second, JARVIS not only analyzes video data, but also examines audio data from the CCTV. Therefore, both audio and video data (bimodal data) is used to analyze scenes, leaving no gaps. Lastly, the majority of companies in this field only provide video analytics, while Staqu’s solutions offer video management software to clients that enable them to aggregate all their feeds from different locations and view them in real time while also receiving real-time alerts on the dynamic video wall. On the other hand, many market players only facilitate post-event analysis or day-by-day reporting which hampers the communication flow and safety.

In addition, Staqu offers solutions not only for CCTV cameras but also drones, and even the mobile stream can be analyzed through its JARVIS platform. The solution enabled police forces to identify approximately 22,000 criminals, bust eight terrorist modules, and this won Staqu recognition from the Government of India.

About JARVIS

JARVIS, fueled with Artificial Intelligence, patented technologies, and unique capabilities, is an audio-video analytics and management technology platform that offers innovation for security and the best possible solution for business.

About Staqu  

As a Gurgaon-based Artificial Intelligence start-up, Staqu strives to utilize technology in solving real-world problems. Founded in 2015, the company provides state-of-the-art image recognition, language-independent proprietary speaker identification, and text processing, including sentiment analysis, text classification, and summarization. Staqu was handpicked by the British High Commission as the Best AI Start-up in the country. Furthermore, triumphing at IBM’s Global Entrepreneur Program, Staqu has successfully raised investment from Indian Angel Network.

Godrej Interio Launches The New ‘Solace’ Hospital Birthing Bed

~ The latest innovation from Godrej Interio ensures a healthy birthing experience for the new mother and the caregiver~

Godrej & Boyce, the flagship company of the Godrej Group, announced that its business Godrej Interio, India’s leading furniture solutions brand, in-home, and institutional segments, launched a unique healthcare birthing bed - ‘Solace’. The Solace Bed is a unique concept that facilitates ease of movement and enables alternating between different postures during Labour, Delivery, Recovery and Postpartum (LDRP) process. With the new range, Godrej Interio is addressing the need for making birthing experience healthy for the mother and caregiver. The brand currently generates over 13% of Institutional revenue from the healthcare industry and provides furniture solutions to over 100 hospitals and healthcare institutions across the country.

According to data from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, quality of care is increasingly recognized as a critical aspect of the unfinished maternal and new-born health agenda, with over 40% death witnessed among new mothers and children at the time of labour and delivery. [1]  The LDRP journey for the mother needs the best of medical care and support. For a smooth and safe delivery, it's essential to ensure a less strenuous journey for both the mother and the caregiver. Addressing the concern, Interio - a reputed healthcare furniture brand has come up with a bed that aims to better the birthing procedure.

Godrej Interio’s feature-loaded Solace Bed is designed to offer comfort to the mother and hospital staff during birthing procedures. Considering the varying stages of giving birth, the bed has been designed to deliver a smooth and safe experience during childbirth. The key features include an electronically controlled backrest and height, 360° adjustable calf supports, manual & electronic CPR for emergencies and in case of power shutdown and retractable leg rest. It also comes with synchronous TR-height movement feature that brings back bed to its horizontal position after Trendelenburg. The adaptability and simplicity of the Solace bed make it a useful, affordable option for the contemporary, progressive labour suite while providing warm, comfortable, and ergonomic care in the hospital.                                                                                                                                                            

On the new product launch, Sameer Joshi, Vice President, Marketing (B2B), Godrej Interio said, “At Godrej Interio, it has been our mission to enrich the quality of life every day and in every way. Godrej Interio’s Healthcare business focuses on creating healthcare spaces that deliver ergonomically safe, healing experiences for the patient, family and caregiver. The newly launched Solace bed highlights our human-centric approach towards design using thoughtful design solutions for enhancing the maternity experience. Solace bed is the one-stop solution catering to all stages of the birthing process providing comfort & support to mothers and the caregivers. We take great pride in continuously innovating to uplift the quality of healthcare experience across India. Further, we plan to launch 5 new healthcare variants to our healthcare range of furniture in FY23-24 and target revenue growth of 30% in our Healthcare business.”

About Godrej Interio:

Godrej Interio is India’s leading premium furniture brand in both home and institutional segments with a strong commitment to sustainability and centers of excellence in design, manufacturing and retail.

Led by the largest in-house design team in the country in the furniture category and awarded with 34 India Design Mark Awards till date, GODREJ INTERIO aims to transform spaces with its thoughtfully designed furniture to create brighter homes and offices with products that have the highest design quotient in aesthetics, functionality and technology. With consistent pursuit of excellence and a special focus on health and ergonomics, GODREJ INTERIO’s product portfolio comprises of a wide range of solutions

Today, Godrej design and manufacture furniture for office spaces, homes, educational institutes, healthcare facilities, laboratories and more. Along with furniture, the company offers Audio Visual and 360 Degree Turnkey solutions. Each of our product range revolves around comfort and aesthetics while delivering well-designed, long lasting and functional furniture solutions. In short, Godrej Interio helps the consumers to make every space the perfect setting for their myriad moods and moments.

Currently present in over 450 cities with 450 exclusive showrooms and 520 dealer outlets, is one of the largest divisions of Godrej & Boyce Mfg. Co. Ltd., part of the Godrej Group, one of India's largest engineering and customer product groups.

Godrej Interio has 7 manufacturing facilities situated at Mumbai, Khalapur, Haridwar, Shirwal, and Bhagwanpur. GODREJ INTERIO is widely known for its comprehensive sustainability certifications for its products in furniture category.

Barbeque Nation Revenue Increases By 15% Y-o-Y In Q3 FY23

Q3 FY23 Highlights 

• Revenue from operations of Rs. 328.2 crores, y-o-y growth of 14.5% 

• Reported EBITDA stands at Rs. 63.1 crore; margin of 19.2% 

• Reported Profit Before Tax (PBT) of Rs. 8.9 crore; adjusted PBT of Rs. 13.3 crores • Reported Profit After Tax (PAT) stood at Rs. 7.2 crore 

• Dine-in to delivery revenue mix of 86.1% and 13.7% respectively  

• Opened 10 new restaurants and closed 3 restaurants taking overall network to 212 restaurants • Cumulative Barbeque Nation App downloads of 5.4mn, 50% increase over December 2022

Barbeque Nation Hospitality Ltd (BSE: 543283 | NSE: BARBEQUE), one of the  leading food services company in India, announced its Q3 FY23 results. 

Revenue from operations during the quarter was Rs. 328.2 crores, delivering a growth of 14.5% compared to the  same period last year. The growth was primarily driven by 18.0% growth in dine-in business. Reported gross  margins were 66.7%, which improved by over 90 basis points during the quarter as compared to the previous  year. Reported EBITDA for the quarter stood at Rs. 63.1 crores with EBITDA margins of 19.2%.  

During the quarter, the Company added 10 new restaurants and closed 3 restaurants, resulting in total count of  212. Total restaurants included 14 Toscano restaurants, 6 Barbeque Nation international restaurants and balance  192 were Barbeque Nation India network. 

Commenting on the business, Mr. Kayum Dhanani, Managing Director, said: 

“Our performance during the quarter was modest despite prevailing subdued demand scenario. We recorded a  topline growth of around 15% primarily driven by growth in dine-in segment. During the first nine months, we  have added 31 new restaurants. Currently, we have around 14 restaurants under fit-out, which gives us  confidence of achieving our guidance of adding 40 new restaurants in FY23. We remain focussed on growing each  of our 4 business verticals to build one of India’s largest food services company owning its restaurant brands.” 

Commenting on the performance, Mr. Rahul Agrawal, CEO and Whole Time Director, said: 

“Our revenue growth during the quarter was primarily led by growth in dine-in business. The performance of  delivery segment was encouraging with around 15% sequential growth. Our delivery transaction volumes  continued to increase and with stable AOVs. This improvement was primarily driven by recent initiatives such as  menu re-engineering, new combo meals and launch of new Biryani brand, ‘Dum Safar’. Dum Safar is now available  at over 50% of our network and continues to generate strong traction from customers. We remain focused on  strengthening and accelerating our core dine-in business, growth in the delivery vertical, unlocking the growth  potential of Toscano and calibrated international expansion.”

Q3 FY23 Press Release 

About Barbeque Nation: 

Founded in 2006, Barbeque Nation is one of India’s leading food services company. It currently owns and  operates 212 restaurants (across 2 brands) in India and 3 other countries. The Company pioneered the format of  ‘over the table barbeque’ concept in Indian restaurants. The nature and quality of food offerings, ambience and service of its restaurants create a one-of-a-kind customer experience. The Company launched UBQ by Barbeque  Nation in 2018 to provide à la carte Indian cuisine and launched Barbeque-in-a-box in 2020 to cater to the  growing delivery segment. Further, the Company launched its Biryani Brand ‘Dum Safar’ in September 2022. With  an expansive network and brand recognition, Barbeque Nation continues to be a staple in most metro and tier 

1 and 2 cities. The Company has a majority stake in ‘Red Apple Kitchen’, which operates 14 Italian cuisine  restaurants under the popular brand “Toscano”.

Airtel Announces Strategic Partnership With Vultr To Deliver Cloud Solutions To Enterprises

* Partnership will offer Vultr’s unrivaled Cloud Compute, Cloud GPU, and Cloud Infrastructure services to India’s digital ecosystem

Bharti Airtel (NSE: BHARTIARTL/ AIRTELPP | BSE: 532454/ 890157) (“Airtel”), India’s leading communications solutions provider, and Vultr, the world’s largest privately-held cloud computing company, today announced a strategic partnership to offer cloud solutions to enterprises in India. 

Airtel will offer Vultr’s extensive suite of cloud solutions to its enterprise customers, especially those in the digital space and help them gain unrivaled global reach and cost-performance advantage to build, test, and run demanding cloud workloads.

The cloud solutions will be hosted in Airtel’s state-of-the-art data centers across Bangalore, Mumbai and Delhi-NCR, enabling businesses to scale their digital operations globally. Businesses of all sizes and across all industries can now leverage cutting-edge cloud technologies to accelerate digital innovation, optimize global cloud performance, and maximize return on global cloud spend. They can also enjoy simple and transparent pricing to avoid billing shocks.

Airtel will offer all of Vultr’s services as a part of its enterprise solutions and these include -  Cloud Compute and Optimized Cloud Compute, as well as ground-breaking Cloud GPU and fractionalized GPU offerings for advanced workloads tied to AI, machine learning, HPC, analytics, visual computing, and gaming use cases.

“Vultr is on a mission to make high-performance cloud infrastructure easy to use, affordable, and locally accessible for businesses and developers around the world.  With 30 cloud data center locations globally, including three locations in India in Airtel data centers, Vultr provides unrivaled price-to-performance and global reach.  Combined with Airtel’s unmatched connectivity and managed services capabilities, Vultr is an ideal platform for accelerating business transformation and digital success,” said J.J. Kardwell, CEO – Constant, the parent company of Vultr.

Ganesh Lakshminarayan, CEO - Enterprise, Airtel Business said, “Our partnership with Vultr comes at a very exciting time as the country continues to aggressively embrace 5G technology and increasingly adopt digital solutions as a way of doing business. This partnership will help us to deliver complex cloud solutions at competitive costs which when combined with our legacy network strength and connectivity, offers an attractive proposition to our enterprise customers.” 

About Bharti Airtel 

Headquartered in India, Airtel is a global communications solutions provider with over 500M+ customers in 17 countries across South Asia and Africa. The company ranks amongst the top three mobile operators globally and its networks cover over two billion people. Airtel is India’s largest integrated communications solutions provider and the second largest mobile operator in Africa. Airtel’s retail portfolio includes high speed 4G/5G mobile broadband, Airtel Xstream Fiber that promises speeds up to 1 Gbps with convergence across linear and on-demand entertainment, streaming services spanning music and video, digital payments, and financial services. For enterprise customers, Airtel offers a gamut of solutions that includes secure connectivity, cloud and data centre services, cyber security, IoT, Ad Tech and CPaaS (Airtel IQ). For more details, visit www.airtel.com

About Vultr

Vultr is on a mission to make high-performance cloud computing easy to use, affordable, and locally accessible for businesses and developers around the world. A favorite with developers, Vultr has served over 1.5 million customers across 185 countries with flexible, scalable, global cloud computing, cloud GPU, bare metal, and cloud storage solutions. Founded by David Aninowsky, and completely bootstrapped, Vultr has become one of the largest cloud computing platforms in the world, without ever raising equity financing. Learn more at www.vultr.com.

Researchers Call For Prescription Charge To Be Cut To Reduce Hospital Admissions

Removing the $5 prescription charge for people in areas of high socioeconomic deprivation reduces the number of hospital admissions and the length of stays, a new study shows. Researchers, led by Professor Pauline Norris of the University of Otago’s Va'a o Tautai – Centre for Pacific Health, are recommending the charges be dropped for people with high health needs and low incomes or be scrapped entirely.

Professor Norris says the charge prevents some people from getting their medication, which can lead to them going to hospital. “Some people have such low incomes and high health costs, that the $5 charge per medicine is an insurmountable barrier,” Professor Norris says. “They go without their medicines, and as a result their health problems get worse, so they need hospital care. This is bad for them, their wh?nau, and the health system.”

More than 1000 people from economically deprived areas of Aotearoa, and who have physical and mental health problems which require medication took part in the year-long study. They were randomly assigned to one of two groups – control or intervention. People in the control group were required to pay the $5 fee as normal, while those in the intervention group did not. Instead, pharmacies billed the study authors.

Results of the study, published in the international journal BMC Health Services Research, reveals for every 100 people who received free prescriptions, 33 were admitted to hospital and stayed for 208 days.

For every 100 people who still had to pay the $5 charge, 41 were admitted to hospital and stayed for 326 days. Removing the charge had a substantial effect on the odds of being hospitalised during the study year, reduced the number of admissions for mental health problems, the number of admissions for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and the length of stay for COPD admissions.

“We knew from previous studies that people go without their medicines because of cost, and many people had told us about their health suffering and sometimes ending up in hospital before of this,” Professor Norris says.“However, I am surprised at how much difference the free medicines made; it was really dramatic”. She hopes policymakers will consider eliminating the charges for people who are unable to afford them.

“This would be a simple way to reduce health inequities. “If a doctor thinks someone needs a medicine, and they want to take it, why do we let the lack of $5 stop them?” A recent New Zealand health survey reveals 3.3 per cent of adults reported going without a medicine because of costs. This was more common for M?ori and Pacific peoples, and those living in areas of high deprivation. Co-author Dr Shirley Keown, of Turanga Health, says “prescription charges force people to choose between getting their medicines, feeding their wh?nau, paying the power bill or buying petrol for the car to get to work”.

Notes to Editors:

About Education New Zealand (ENZ) https://www.enz.govt.nz/

Education New Zealand Manapou ki te Ao (ENZ) is the government agency responsible for taking New Zealand’s education experiences to the world. ENZ promotes a New Zealand education as one that teaches students to be critical thinkers, problem solvers and lifelong learners, which will help them succeed in their future careers and create a positive impact on the world. In 2019, New Zealand’s education system was ranked first among English-speaking countries and third in the world for delivering a future-focused education (out of 50 economies) by the Economist Intelligence Unit.

With approximately 100 staff in 18 locations around the world, ENZ works closely with New Zealand’s diverse education sector including schools, English language providers, Private Training Establishments, Institutes of Technology and Polytechnics, universities; and internationally with NZ Inc agencies, Government agencies and education providers to encourage sustainable growth and identify opportunities.

For more information on why New Zealand best place is to study and live:

https://www.studywithnewzealand.govt.nz/en