Dineout’s IPL 2019 Campaign -‘Predict & Win’ Receives Massive Participation

Dineout, India’s leading dining out and restaurant tech Solutions Company, today successfully concluded its IPL 2019 campaign – ‘Predict & Win’. Launched in the month of March 2019, the idea of the campaign was to leverage the cricket fever in India. The campaign attracted close to 42 lakh no of predictions and a whooping Rs.104 crore was given as cashbacks by Dineout.

Designed on the theme of ‘predict online and eat offline’, it focused  on bringing people together during the cricket matches and encouraged them to dine out at their favourite restaurant. The campaign was a hit right from the start as it crossed Rs. 20 crore cashback to users with over 1 million predictions within 10 days of its launch.

Commenting on the success of the campaign, Ankit Mehrotra, Co-Founder & CEO, Dineout said, “Indians loves IPL and they love food too. We launched the campaign with a thought to combine both and give people reason to dine out more and enjoy the season without burning a hole in their pocket. We are happy that millions of diners chose to participate in ‘Predict & Win’ and enjoyed their favourite meals at their favourite restaurants. I would like to thank our restaurant partners too who helped us in providing unique experience to millions of diners who utilized their earnings and enjoyed matches with their loved ones. I would also like to congratulate the final winner of this contest and am sure he will enjoy the upcoming World Cup live!”

‘Predict & Win’ is a game on the Dineout app, where users choose their winning teams and predict scores to win Dineout earnings to save upto Rs. 900 on restaurant bills everyday.

Along with these interesting insights, Dineout also announced the winner of the ‘Predict & Win’ contest who ended up winning the grand prize of a trip to London powered by IXIGO to see World Cup matches. Going with the kind of response the campaign has received, Dineout will continue with ‘Predict & Win’ during the World Cup too, giving its customers to dine out more.  

Nabard Unveils Venture Capital Fund for Agri Startups in Indian Market

The National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) Monday announced an Rs 700-crore venture capital fund for equity investments in agriculture and rural-focused startups.

NABARD has been contributing to other funds till now and this is the first time that the rural development bank has launched a fund of its own.

The fund has been launched by Nabventures, a subsidiary of NABARD, and has a proposed corpus of Rs 500 crore with an option to retain over-subscription of Rs 200 crore, called as the greenshoe option, an official statement said.

NABARD has given an anchor commitment for the fund, which will be investing across startups engaged in agriculture, food and rural development space, it said.

The statement said, the fund had its first close but details of the investments done by NABARAD and other limited partners, if any, were not immediately available.

The fund will have a high impact as it will provide a boost to investment ecosystem in the core areas of agriculture, food and improvement of rural livelihoods, NABARD chairman Harsh Kumar Bhanwala said.

Nabventures is now scouting for equity investments in asset-light, innovative, technology-led start-ups in its focus areas, the statement said.

Till now, NABARAD has contributed Rs 273 crore to 16 alternate investment funds, the statement said.

Bollywood Actor Deepika Padukone Invests in FMCG Brand Epigamia

Drums Food International, the parent company of fresh FMCG brand Epigamia, on Monday announced a multi-crore strategic partnership with Deepika Padukone, which includes an investment from the Bollywood actress.

The company, however, did not elaborate the funding amount.

“This investment is an extension of the recently closed series C round of funding led by Verlinvest, a Belgium-based consumer-focused investment firm, Danone Manifesto Ventures, the venture investment arm of one of the world’s leading food and beverage companies, and DSG Consumer Partners, an Asia focused VC (venture capital) fund,” Drums Food International said in a statement.

Brand Epigamia, on the back of the capital raised and the strategic partnership with Deepika, will now look to expand into new products and enter new cities, it added.

Launched in June 2015, Epigamia is currently available in 20 stock keeping units (SKUs) under greek yogurt, artisanal curd, snack pack, MishtiDoi and smoothies.

The brand retails across approximately 10,000 touch points, including modern trade chains, ecommerce and general trade retailers.

Subex Announces FY19 Results with Consolidated Revenue of ₹3,481M and EBITDA of ₹514M

Subex, a leading telecom analytics solution provider, today announced its consolidated financial results for the year ended March 31, 2019.

Performance Highlights for the year ended March 31, 2019:

Revenue for the year at ₹3,481 million as against ₹3,243 million in FY18, up by 7.3%.
EBITDA* for the year at ₹514 million as against ₹508 million in FY18, up by 1.1%.
Profit after Tax (PAT) for the year at ₹252 million as against ₹207 million in FY18, up by 21.7%.

Performance Highlights for the quarter ended March 31, 2019:

Revenue for the quarter at ₹1,019 million as against ₹823 million in FY19 Q3, up by 23.8%
EBIDTA* for the quarter at ₹269 million as against ₹76 million in FY19 Q3, up by 254%.
Profit after Tax (PAT) for the quarter at ₹129 million as against ₹21 million in FY19 Q3, up by 514%.

Highlights of the Year

Announced the launch of multi-vertical anomaly detection solution, CrunchMetrics with a market potential of $2.25B
Won multi-million-dollar contract from Optus to deploy its ROC Network Asset Management solution
Announced a multi-year partnership with Econet Wireless Zimbabwe to deploy Analytics Centre of Trust
Announced a 5-Year multi-million-dollar partnership with BTC to implement Integrated Revenue Assurance & Fraud Management, Partner Settlement, and Route Optimization solutions
Partnered with Telefonica on a new Cybersecurity Venture
Announced partnership with Town of Florence, Arizona to cyber-secure critical infrastructure
Awarded IoT Security Platform of the Year by Compass Intelligence
Awarded three Pipeline Awards for the Big Data & Analytics, Managed Services and Security & Assurance categories
Launched next-gen digital fraud prevention solution to help telcos proactively deal with existing and emerging fraud types

Appointments

Appointment of Mr. George Zacharias as an Independent & Non-Executive Director of the Company with effect from May 13, 2019

Vinod Kumar, Managing Director & CEO, Subex said, “This has been a year of moving from stability to growth phase for Subex. FY19 has been a successful year both from a strategy and execution perspective where we met expectations.

We started off the year by defining a 3-Horizon strategy with an objective to be the pioneers in Digital Trust across multiple verticals. We have reinvigorated our core offerings in Horizon 1 with the infusion of AI/ML, empowering our customers to embrace digital disruption. This has enabled us to significantly improve our competitive advantage and perform well on our core areas, thereby providing us the necessary platform to pursue newer growth areas. We have also successfully achieved targets that we had set for ourselves in the new offerings in Horizon II like IoT Security and Analytics, and the demand in these areas continues to grow. Further in line with our Horizon III plans, we launched CrunchMetrics, which has opened a huge addressable market for us. Both Horizon II and III offerings allow us to adopt subscription-based revenue models that presents us with exponential growth opportunities.

I am happy to state that all these efforts have resulted in us securing a 30% increase in new business acquisition over last year and thereby providing the necessary impetus for a stronger FY 20. Digital trust is emerging as a key pillar of digital economy and being a major player in this space will help in significant value creation for all our stake holders in the coming years.”

Mr. Anil Singhvi, Chairman, said “It gives me great pleasure to welcome Mr. George Zacharias as an Independent & Non-Executive Director. George is a very experienced business leader and we are extremely pleased to have someone of his caliber and expertise join our Board. On behalf of the board and everyone at Subex, I would like to welcome George to the Subex family.”

NetApp Powers Data-Driven Organizations to Succeed Globally

NetApp, the data authority for hybrid cloud, today announced NetApp ONTAP 9.6, the new midrange, end-to-end NVMe AFF A320 storage system and an expanded portfolio of services to help businesses maximize the value of their data.

NetApp’s cloud-connected flash solutions, an element of a Data Fabric strategy, provide the simplicity, operational efficiency and protection needed to support innovation, add unprecedented performance and power the most demanding data sets and technologies, such as artificial intelligence or 5G networks. Only NetApp delivers everything that companies need to build their own unique Data Fabric that spans public cloud, private cloud and on-premises environments. With NetApp solutions, this Data Fabric can deliver applications that engage users and can provide analytics that turn insights into a competitive advantage.

“As enterprises evolve to new, more data-centric business models where data is a key strategic resource, data availability requirements are on the rise,” said Eric Burgener, research vice president, Infrastructure Systems, Platforms and Technologies Group, IDC.  “NetApp’s cloud-connected flash solutions, coupled with their Data Fabric strategy, provides the performance, availability, agility and simplicity enterprises undergoing digital transformation need in their hybrid cloud infrastructure to create and leverage innovative business opportunities.”

“In advances that are coming our way, like 5G networks, we can see that a company’s  ability to generate, gather and disseminate a massive volume of data will be enabled like never before and companies that aren’t ready are going to be overwhelmed,” said Joel Reich, executive vice president, Storage Systems and Software, NetApp. “With NetApp ONTAP, organizations can overcome the challenges introduced by these data-intensive technologies and cutting-edge innovations with a smart, powerful, and trusted solution that maximizes the value that organizations can derive from data.”

Maximizing Value in the Hybrid Cloud

By accelerating applications painlessly and by delivering simplicity and security for a future-proof infrastructure, ONTAP 9.6 data management software allows organizations of all sizes to maximize the value of data and take on new data-driven initiatives. ONTAP 9.6 includes the following enhancements:

Expanded NVMe over Fibre Channel (NVMe/FC) ecosystem now includes VMware ESXi, Microsoft Windows, and Oracle Linux hosts, in addition to Red Hat and SUSE Linux, with storage path resiliency. Organizations can experience NVMe/FC performance for most workloads.
FabricPool now supports Google Cloud Platform and Alibaba Cloud, in addition to Microsoft Azure, Amazon Web Services (AWS), and IBM Cloud Storage. Organizations can lower the cost of primary storage by automatically tiering cold data to any major public cloud or to a NetApp StorageGRID® private cloud.
NetApp FlexCache® software now supports NetApp Cloud Volumes ONTAP, allowing organizations to experience the benefits of FlexCache in hybrid cloud deployments.
Over-the-wire encryption for NetApp SnapMirror® technology and FlexCache increases security for data replication and remote caching.
NetApp MetroCluster™ IP support for entry-level NetApp AFF and FAS systems now makes business continuity a cost-effective option for organizations, taking advantage of existing customer IP networks between sites.

New Midrange End-to-End NVMe System

Last year NetApp introduced the AFF A800, the industry’s first end-to-end NVMe system with industry-leading performance and unmatched data services that are backed by the industry’s most effective Efficiency Guarantee. With this announcement, NetApp has extended these benefits to the midrange market. The AFF A320 system enables customers to:

Accelerate traditional and emerging enterprise applications such as artificial intelligence and deep learning, analytics, and databases with extremely low latency.
Reduce data center costs by consolidating applications with a powerful system.
Future-proof their environment with NVMe technology, 100GbE Ethernet, and cloud integration.

Expanded Services Portfolio to Meet Broader Customer Needs

Customers can rely on NetApp standards-based best practices and expert engineers to improve efficiency and performance and to protect against business disruption and data loss. NetApp’s expanded services portfolio now includes:

SupportEdge Prestige offers a high-touch, concierge level of technical support that resolves issues faster through priority call routing. Customers are assigned a designated team of NetApp experts and receive specialized reporting, tools, and storage environment health assessments.
Tiered Deployment Service accelerates time to value for new NetApp technology and reduces the risk of improper installation or misconfiguration. Three new high-quality options include Basic, Standard and Advanced Deployment, each aligned to customer business objectives.
Managed Upgrade Service is a remotely delivered service that reduces security risks by ensuring NetApp software is always up to date with all security patches and firmware upgrades.

Hero Motocorp Launches Scooter with Fuel-Indection Technology – Maestro Edge 125 and New Pleasure+ 110

In keeping with its aggressive growth strategy for the scooter segment, Hero MotoCorp, the world’s largest two-wheeler manufacturer, today further strengthened its scooter portfolio with the launch of two powerful and stylish new scooters – Maestro Edge 125 and Pleasure+ 110 – for customers in India and across its global markets.

Following its successful foray in the 125cc scooter segment with Destini 125, Hero MotoCorp today launched India’s first scooter with Fuel Injection (FI) technology – the Maestro Edge 125. The FI variant of the scooter is priced at Rs 62,700/-* while the i3S (Carb) variants are priced at Rs. 58,500/-* (Drum) and Rs. 60,000/-* (Disc).

*Ex-showroom Delhi.

Hero MotoCorp’s popular Pleasure brand – which already enjoys a strong customer connect - made a powerful and stylish entry into the 110cc segment as the Pleasure+ 110. The scooter is attractively priced at Rs. 47,300/-*.

*Ex-showroom Delhi.

With these launches, Hero MotoCorp has now rolled out seven new products - including premium motorcycles and scooters - with youthful appeal and technological and design excellence, in a short span of time.

Closely following the launch of its all-new X range of motorcycles – XPulse 200, XPulse 200T and Xtreme 200S - the new scooters are targeted at rapidly growing Hero MotoCorp’s presence in the scooter segment.

The Company will commence the retail sales of the scooters over the next few weeks.

Commenting on the launch, Dr. Markus Braunsperger, Chief Technology Officer, Hero MotoCorp Ltd., said, “With the introduction of three strong products – Maestro Edge 125, Destini 125 and Pleasure+ 110 – within just a few months, we have laid out a strong roadmap to accelerate our growth in the scooter segment. The introduction of India’s first scooter with the FI technology – the Maestro Edge 125 – demonstrates the capabilities of our R&D ecosystem.”

Malo Le Masson, Head of Global Product Planning, Hero MotoCorp Ltd., said, “Our Scooter strategy is unfolding now with new models that have an edge over competition, be it in technology or style. The Pleasure brand created the women-dedicated segment long back and the new Pleasure+ 110 broadens its audience to all young customers aspiring for a stylish ride. The Maestro Edge 125 is bringing FI technology to the scooter category in India and sets a new benchmark in the segment. Along with the Destini 125, Hero MotoCorp now has a robust portfolio targeting customers of both 125cc and 110cc scooters and is geared up to enhance its presence in the segment.”

Sanjay Bhan, Head of Sales, Aftersales, and Parts, Hero MotoCorp, said, “We have already made a strong and successful foray in the 125cc scooter segment with the launch of Destini 125 recently. Together with Maestro Edge 125 and Pleasure 110, we are confident that our portfolio will appeal to a varied customer set and subsequently, contribute towards growing our presence in the scooter segment.”

THE MAESTRO EDGE 125

After a successful foray in the 125cc scooter category with the Destini 125, Hero MotoCorp is now introducing the ultra-premium and powerful new scooter – Maestro Edge 125. Designed for today’s young generation, the new Maestro Edge 125 offers the right amalgamation of optimum performance, sleeker design and best-in-class technology.

The scooter comes in two variants - the FI variant and an i3S (Carb) variant.

The Maestro Edge 125 FI brings several firsts, not only to the 125cc scooter segment but also to the entire scooter segment. It is the first and only scooter in the country to have the Fuel Injection technology. Its engine produces a power output of 9.1 bhp @7000 rpm and maximum torque of 10.2Nm @5000 rpm delivering the best-in-class Power to Weight ratio.

The i3S (Carb) variant that comes with a 125cc Energy Boost Engine, produces power output of 8.7 bhp @6750 rpm and maximum torque of 10.2 Nm @5000 rpm - while featuring Hero’s intuitive i3S (Idle-stop-start system) for higher efficiency.

The models come packed with a host of design elements including the stand out LED Signature, diamond-cut Cast Wheels, textured Seats, sharp Front Cover & Apron, sleek Rear Cowl, signature LED tail-lamp and frost Winkers while being also loaded with the best features pack in the segment.

Upping the convenience, safety and utility quotient, the scooter comes with a host of exciting features like the external fuel filling, mobile charging port, boot lamp, remote key opening, side stand indicator, service due reminder and digital-analog meter.

The Maestro Edge 125 FI comes in two color combinations -- Pearl White with Brown inner panel & Astro Gold front forks and Panther Black with a sporty Red inner panel.

Maestro Edge 125 i3S (Carb) variant is available in an all Matt color palette – Matt Blue, Matt Red, Matt Brown and Matt Vernier Grey.

THE PLEASURE+ 110

The successful Pleasure brand is now entering the 110cc segment as the powerful and stylish Pleasure+ 110.

Targeted at young students and professionals, the new Pleasure+ 110 packs a powerful punch with its retro design and performance. The scooter comes with a new 110cc engine that produces a power output of 8 bhp @ 7500 rpm, a highly impressive torque of 8.7 Nm @ 5500 rpm which combined with a light weight of 101 Kgs makes it fun to ride.

The Pleasure+ 110 carries the right balance of modern and vintage appeal with design elements like new retro front, sleek rear tail lamp and a dual texture seat

Keeping the convenience and safety aspects in focus, the scooter offers features like a USB charger located accessibly close to the front pocket, LED boot lamp, Integrated Braking System and a new backlit Speedometer with Fuel and Side Stand Indicator.

The Pleasure+ 110 is available in two variants – Sheet Metal Wheel (color options - Glossy Black, Glossy Blue, Glossy White and Glossy Red) and Cast Wheel (color options - Matt Red, Matt Green and Matt Vernier Grey).

The Data Literacy Project Partners with Qlik to Launch World-First Comprehensive Certification for Data Literacy

The Data Literacy Project, the community dedicated to making society fluent in data, introduced the first globally recognized certification that will enable individuals to document and demonstrate their data literacy skills. This free certification has been developed by leading academics and data literacy specialists at Qlik, supporting the company’s role in the Data Literacy Project’s mission to enable individuals at every stage in their data literacy journey.

The great challenge in the Fourth Industrial Revolution is not capturing data, but turning it into actionable insights. Companies across all industries need employees to gain insights from data to sustain their value and drive competitive advantage. There is a significant global skills gap, with just 24% of employees worldwide confident in their ability to read, work with, analyze, and argue with data. Data skills are in high demand, with Qlik’s Data Literacy Index showcasing that one-third (36%) of business leaders would be willing to pay more to data literate individuals.

This free certification, pioneered by the Qlik education team and led by Qlik’s in-house academic Kevin Hanegan, is the first comprehensive measure of an individual’s data literacy. Unlike the many existing technical qualifications for data analytics, data science and big data, this world-first exam will enable candidates from all walks of life to attain a physical certificate that attests they have the skills needed to succeed in an increasingly digitized workplace. These include both hard skills like understanding and interpreting data as well as soft skills like creativity, problem-solving and communicating. The certification design leverages Hanegan’s experience as a professor at the University of California and Oregon State University, along with his current work as Chief Learning Officer at Qlik, ensuring the certification reflects both business and academic requirements.

“The potential for data-informed decision making across all roles and business functions is massive,” said Kevin Hanegan, Chief Learning Officer, Qlik. “Data literacy has been proven to positively impact organizations’ enterprise value by up to 5 percent, so it is little surprise that this skillset is becoming highly valued. We’re excited to help individuals demonstrate their data literacy without embarking on more technical, data analytics qualifications that may not be appropriate to their level.”

The 70-question examination will measure performance in the data skills that support better business decision-making, including:

·         Analyzing, asking questions of, making decisions and communicating with data
·         Interpreting business requirements
·         Understanding how data is built, used and transformed in order to analyze and tie back to business objectives
·         Utilizing visualizations to make data-informed decisions

Following the two-hour examination, successful candidates will receive a physical certificate and a badge for their LinkedIn and CV certifying to employers their ability to read, work with, analyze and argue with data.

Empowering Individuals Throughout Their Data Literacy Journey

The contribution of this world-first data literacy certification further enables the Data Literacy Project - launched by founding partners Qlik, Accenture, Cognizant, Experian, Pluralsight, Chartered Institute of Marketing and Data to the People in October 2018 - to achieve the goal of helping individuals at every stage in their data literacy journey.

Those starting on their data literacy journey can access e-learning resources on the Project’s website, including 19 courses that were recently made available free of charge by Qlik. These courses support the development of core data literacy skills, including Understanding Data, Data Storytelling and an Introduction to Data-Informed Decision Making.

The recent launch of the Data Literacy Project community forum also enables individuals to engage with and ask questions of experts to support their continued learning.

“The creation of the first globally recognized certification to help more people document and demonstrate their data literacy skills is a hugely significant step in the right direction for the Data Literacy Project,” said Paul Malyon, Data Literacy Project Advisory Board Member and Head of Data Literacy at Experian. “Giving everyone the opportunity to become fully capable in, and certified, for their ability to read, work with, analyze and argue with data can only be positive for their careers, the businesses they work for and their day-to-day lives. Understanding data has never been more important and we’re delighted to be able to support this launch.”