IBM: Security in the Cloud Remains Challenged by Complexity and Shadow IT

IBM Security has released new data examining the top challenges and threats impacting cloud security, indicating that the ease and speed at which new cloud tools can be deployed can also make it harder for security teams to control their usage. According to IBM survey data and case-study analysis, basic security oversight issues, including governance, vulnerabilities, and misconfigurations, remain the top risk factors organizations should address to help secure increasingly cloud-based operations. The case-study analysis of security incidents over the past year also sheds light on how cybercriminals are targeting cloud environments with customized malware, ransomware and more.

With businesses rapidly moving to cloud to accommodate remote workforce demands, understanding the unique security challenges posed by this transition is essential for managing risk. While the cloud enables many critical business and technology capabilities, ad-hoc adoption and management of cloud resources can also create complexity for IT and cybersecurity teams. According to IDC, more than a third of companies purchased 30+ types of cloud services from 16 different vendors in 2019 alone. IDC CloudPulse Summary Q119 This distributed landscape can lead to unclear ownership of security in the cloud, policy “blind spots” and potential for shadow IT to introduce vulnerabilities and misconfiguration.

In order to get a better picture of the new security reality as companies quickly adapt to hybrid, multi-cloud environments, IBM Institute for Business Value (IBV) and IBM X-Force Incident Response and Intelligence Services (IRIS) examined the unique challenges impacting security operations in the cloud, as well as top threats targeting cloud environments. Top findings include:  

·        Complex Ownership: 66% of respondents surveyed IBM Institute for Value Survey of 930 senior business and IT professionals  say they rely on cloud providers for baseline security; yet perception of security ownership by respondents varied greatly across specific cloud platforms and applications.2

·        Cloud Applications Opening the Door: The most common path for cybercriminals to compromise cloud environments was via cloud-based applications, representing 45% of incidents in IBM X-Force IRIS cloud-related case studies. IBM X-Force IRIS: “Cloud Security Landscape Report” In these cases, cybercriminals took advantage of configuration errors as well as vulnerabilities within the applications, which often remained undetected due to employees standing up new cloud apps on their own, outside of approved channels.

·        Amplifying Attacks: While data theft was the top impact of the cloud attacks studied3, hackers also targeted the cloud for cryptomining and ransomware4 – using cloud resources to amplify the effect of these attacks.

“The cloud holds enormous potential for business efficiency and innovation, but also can create a ‘wild west’ of broader and more distributed environments for organizations to manage and secure,” said Abhijit Chakravorty, Cloud Security Competency Leader, IBM Security Services. “When done right, cloud can make security scalable and more adaptable – but first, organizations need to let go of legacy assumptions and pivot to new security approaches designed specifically for this new frontier of technology, leveraging automation wherever possible. This starts with a clear picture of regulatory obligations and compliance mandate, as well as the unique technical and policy-driven security challenges and external threats targeting the cloud.”

Prashant Bhatkal, Security Software Leader, IBM India/South Asia, "While companies have been slowly moving to the cloud for years, the global pandemic has served as a forcing function for businesses to drastically accelerate their cloud adoption. The pandemic has created a premium on agility, which the cloud and associated services can provide. Businesses need the ability to adapt quickly and access tools and systems remotely, making cloud the inevitable solution for the “new normal". While agility is essential, rapid technology shifts lead to new opportunities for cybercriminals. In the case of the cloud, we are moving to a very flexible and dispersed IT landscape that is easy to deploy and scale, but more complex to manage and control. As the rapid move to the cloud has likely exacerbated these challenges, companies must quickly re-evaluate their security policies for the new normal. Customers in India before the pandemic focused around on-prem deployments of critical applications and data. As they started moving to SaaS-based offerings in the last couple of months to allow availability and access to data anywhere, they realized the need to re-imagine their security posture. We are working with clients to help migrate their mission-critical workloads to Cloud by ensuring security is baked in at every level. We are partnering with customers on how they can shift their security approaches to protect increasingly dispersed, hybrid-cloud environments. Cloud today is a key enabler in providing secure environment to applications and data across various platforms.

Who owns Security in the Cloud?

A survey from IBM Institute for Business Value found that responding organizations that relied heavily on cloud providers to own security in the cloud, despite the fact that configuration issues – which are typically users’ responsibility – were most often to blame for data breaches (accounting for more than 85% of all breached records in 2019 for surveyed organizations). IBM X-Force Threat Intelligence Index, 2020

Additionally, perceptions of security ownership in the cloud for surveyed organizations varied widely across various platforms and applications. For example, the majority of respondents (73%) believed public cloud providers were the main party responsible for securing software-as-a-service (SaaS), while only 42% believed providers were primarily responsible for securing cloud infrastructure-as-a-service(IaaS).3

While this type of shared responsibility model is necessary for the hybrid, multi-cloud era, it can also lead to variable security policies and a lack of visibility across cloud environments. Organizations that are able to streamline cloud and security operations can help reduce this risk, through clearly defined policies which apply across their entire IT environment.

Top Threats in the Cloud: Data Theft, Cryptomining and Ransomware

In order to get a better picture of how attackers are targeting cloud environments, X-Force IRIS incident response experts conducted an in-depth analysis of cloud-related cases the team responded to over the past year. IBM X-Force IRIS “Cloud Landscape Report,” based on client incident response cases taking place between June 2018 and March 2020

  The analysis found:

·        Cybercriminals Leading the Charge: Financially motivated cybercriminals were the most commonly observed threat group category targeting cloud environments in IBM X-Force incident response cases, though nation state actors are also a persistent risk.

·        Exploiting Cloud Apps: The most common entry point for attackers was via cloud applications, including tactics such as brute-forcing, exploitation of vulnerabilities and misconfigurations. Vulnerabilities often remained undetected due to “shadow IT,” when an employee goes outside approved channels and stands up a vulnerable cloud app. Managing vulnerabilities in the cloud can be challenging, since vulnerabilities in cloud products remained outside the scope of traditional CVEs until 2020.

·        Ransomware in the Cloud: Ransomware was deployed 3x more than any other type of malware in cloud environments in IBM incident response cases, followed by cryptominers and botnet malware.

·        Data Theft: Outside of malware deployment, data theft was the most common threat activity IBM observed in breached cloud environments over the last year, ranging from personally identifying information (PII) to client-related emails.

·        Exponential Returns: Threat actors used cloud resources to amplify the effect of attacks like cryptomining and DDoS. Additionally, threat groups used the cloud to host their malicious infrastructure and operations, adding scale and an additional layer of obfuscation to remain undetected.

“Based on the trends in our incident response cases, it’s likely that malware cases targeting cloud will continue to expand and evolve as cloud adoption increases,” said Charles DeBeck, IBM X-Force IRIS. “Our team has observed that malware developers have already begun making malware that disables common cloud security products, and designing malware that takes advantage of the scale and agility offered by the cloud.”

Maturing CloudSec Can Lead to Faster Security Response

While the cloud revolution is posing new challenges for security teams, organizations who are able to pivot to a more mature and streamlined governance model for cloud security can help their security agility and response capabilities.  

The survey from IBM Institute for Business Value found that responding organizations who ranked high maturity in both Cloud and Security evolution were able to identify and contain data breaches faster than colleagues who were still in early phases of their cloud adoption journey. In terms of data breach response time, the most mature organizations surveyed were able to identify and contain data breaches twice as fast as the least mature organizations (average threat lifecycle of 125 days vs. 250 days).

As the cloud becomes essential for business operations and an increasingly remote workforce, IBM Security recommends that organizations focus on the following elements to help improve cybersecurity for hybrid, multi-cloud environments:

·        Establish collaborative governance and culture: Adopt a unified strategy that combines cloud and security operations – across application developers, IT Operations and Security. Designate clear policies and responsibilities for existing cloud resources as well as for the acquisition of new cloud resources.

·        Take a risk-based view: Assess the kinds of workload and data you plan to move to the cloud and define appropriate security policies. Start with a risk-based assessment for visibility across your environment and create a roadmap for phasing cloud adoption.

·        Apply strong access management: Leverage access management policies and tools for access to cloud resources, including multifactor authentication, to prevent infiltration using stolen credentials. Restrict privileged accounts and set all user groups to least-required privileges to minimize damage from account compromise (zero trust model).

·        Have the right tools: Ensure tools for security monitoring, visibility and response are effective across all cloud and on-premise resources. Consider shifting to open technologies and standards which allow for greater interoperability between tools.

·        Automate security processes: Implementing effective security automation in your system can help improve your detection and response capabilities, rather than relying on manual reaction to events.

·        Use proactive simulations: Rehearse for various attack scenarios; this can help identify where blind spots may exist, and also address any potential forensic issues that may arise during attack investigation.

To view the X-Force IRIS Cloud Security Landscape Report, download the full report here.

Brookfield Properties Hosts 'Sustainability Talks' for Greener, More-Efficient Workspaces

The talks highlighted the role of passive architecture, use of solar and renewable resources, water conservation, waste management, green mobility solutions and clean indoor air  across Candor Techspace campuses and the initiatives taken by individual corporate occupiers for reducing carbon footprint. 

Brookfield Properties celebrated this World Environment Day by hosting 'Sustainability Talks,' a special campaign on creating a green built environment and workspaces. The dialogue brought forth several initiatives and ideas on sustainable practices adopted by Brookfield Properties and its corporate occupiers at Candor TechSpace. Some of the best practices shared included:

* Marsh & McLennan Companies Inc’s. upgrade of its lighting systems to LED, across more than 320,000 square feet, saving over 38% (178,000 kWh) in energy.

* RBS has set ambitious new goals to continue its decarbonisation, aiming to be climate positive by 2025 for its own operations through a combination of emissions reductions and carbon offsetting. RBS India office has completely replaced single use plastic from its office, with biodegradable options.

* Sopra Steria, an occupier of Candor TechSpace, has replaced 90% of diesel cars used for employee commuting with CNG cabs, which resulted in a significant reduction of GHG emissions.

* Similarly, Fidelity Investment Limited has managed to save 1181 tonnes of carbon footprint and 1003 trees.

* SE2 occupier of Candor TechSpace Sec48, Gurugram, has taken initiatives to reduce water consumption by installing aerators in washrooms and hand washing areas and introducing electric vehicle transport.

* Wipro Ltd.  has partnered with non-profit organisation like Uthaan for plantation of hundreds of trees. 

* Candor TechSpace has converted its conventional watering systems and green belts into drip irrigation, resulting in a 50% reduction in water usage for horticultural purposes. Along with Sewerage Treatment Plant to reuse and recycle water, 3,780-kiloliters of water per day is saved. With 1.19 MWp of installed capacity, the company is also one of the largest amongst IT ITS SEZ when it comes to rooftop solar power.

Mr. Sameer Saxena, VP & Head,  Real Estate, Marsh and Mclennan Companies Inc. and Ms. Deepti Agarwal, VP location and property strategy lead India & Property Projects Lead, North India RBS,  Mr. Vasudevan Suresh, Chairman Indian Green Building Council,  Mr. Manit Rastogi, Founding Partner, Morphogenesis and Mr. Shantanu Chakraborty, Senior VP & Regional Head, India office, Brookfield Properties,  participated in the Sustainability Talks.

The panel discussed several existing challenges faced by traditional workspaces and emphasised the importance of reshaping conventional office architecture with passive and constructive infrastructural designs that fit the current digital needs of new-age professionals.

Commenting on the same, Brookfield Properties spokesperson said, "The environmental, social and governance management, known as ESG management, is core to how we conduct our business across the globe. In sync with this vision, we constantly strive to improve our operations and buildings performance on energy, water and waste to reduce our carbon footprint. We take extra care in ensuring clean indoor and on campus air, to improve productivity."

Brookfield Properties has achieved many accolades for its green initiatives, including platinum rating from the Indian Green Building Council (IGBC) for two of its Candor Techspace properties.

Opportunities in Crisis: The Post Covid Fate of e-Grocer Startups

Highlights

* Startups like Crofarm and StoreSe have created a prolonged shift in the behaviour and buying patterns of the consumers  

In wake of the current outbreak, Sunil, a 60 year old Delhi resident, was facing many challenges due to the lockdown and the restrictions of not going out. He was then introduced to apps like Crofarm and StoreSe so that he could order fresh fruits, vegetables and other essentials just at a click and avoid the hassle of going out. These startups have created a shift in the buying behaviour and patterns of the consumers by providing contact less doorstep deliveries for almost everything.  

Crofarm- a farm to retail agritech startup, has entered into business-to-business-to-consumer (B2B2C) with its platform Otipy – a community-based platform to connect consumers, resellers and farmers for bringing fresh produce to doorstep at reasonable prices. The new product works on a social commerce model, which delivers the products to resellers, who handle the last-mile delivery and eliminate middlemen.

Similarly, another player StoreSe - a recently launched 24 hrs delivery online grocery delivery platform is connecting the consumers with their trusted local offline stores. The startup has partnered with offline retail brands such as Vishal MegaMart, Modern Bazaar, Metro Cash & Carry, MORE and leading cab aggregators like Ola and Meru for quick 24 hours delivery service so that the consumers can avoid the hassle of going out. It has witnessed its sales growing 20% on a weekly basis since its launch in March 2020, and is also planning to scale up to 100 plus cities in next six months.

The purchasing habits of the consumers are changing rapidly and the bigger question is will this become the regular habit of people once lockdown is over and the industry is faced by the new normal. This is because it's highly unlikely that consumption patterns will go back to normal as the pandemic has made an indelible mark on the way we approach buying. With the virus around for a longer period of time and there's lack of clarity when vaccines will actually arrive, new behavioural patterns are expected to be strongly set. 

Aakash Educational Services Launches New Campaign, “Padhai Hamari Jaari Hai”

Aakash Educational Services Ltd. (AESL), the national leader in test preparation services, has launched a television campaign titled “Padhai Hamari Jaari Hai” highlighting Aakash Institute as a coach, an enabler and as a partner for students and parents at every step of their journey,no matter what the situation is.

The TVC will be aired on leading TV channels pan-India and online channels including YouTube and OTT platforms. It will be a 40 second one on TV Channels and a 90 second commercial on online channels.

With the launch of this campaign, AESL reiterates its mission to help mitigate the impact of the Covid-19 epidemic by ensuring continuous support to students. The campaign is aimed at informing students and parents about the initiatives taken by AESL to ensure that learning goes on.

The campaign focuses on bridging the gap between geographies and making students and parents aware of AESL’s online learning platforms. All regular classroom batches of AESL are running on schedule without any delay or disruption, with the faculties taking live online classes.

The ad campaign focuses on AESL’s Classroom Online Study Plan offered to maintain continuity in the student’s study schedule. The Online Study Plan includes features like Daily Video Lectures, Daily Live Classes, Daily Practice Tests, Live Doubt Sessions and Weekly and Monthly Tests.

Commenting on the launch of the TV Commercial, Mr Aakash Chaudhry, Director and CEO of Aakash Educational Services Limited (AESL) said, “The core objective of this campaign is to help parents and students understand and embrace the advantages of tech-enabled learning offered by AESL in these tough times. Students are invited to start their preparation online and when classroom branches open up, they can continue there then. The campaign will be aired on TV as well as on online channels, which will not only give it a mass outreach but will also help in engaging with students on the online platform. We want to reiterate that AESL is one of the best choices for the students aspiring to become doctors and engineers.”

Since the outbreak of the pandemic, Aakash Digital, an online learning platform of Aakash Educational Services Limited (AESL), has seen four times increase in the number of daily active users in April 2020 as compared to the previous year.

JFrog Drives “DevOps With a Mission,” Brings Community Together Online for swampUP Conference: Jun 30-Jul 1

Technology Conference 

* First time, Indian developer community get to participate in this global conference

* Two-Day Event Combines Innovative DevOps Training and Thought Leadership Tailored to the Developer Community, With Proceeds Donated to COVID-19 Research

 

JFrog, the Universal DevOps technology leader known for enabling “Liquid Software” via continuous software release flows, announced the lineup for its annual DevOps community and JFrog user conference swampUP, which will take place online June 23 and 24 for the Americas and June 30 and July 1 for EMEA & APAC. Notably, all conference registration proceeds will be donated to COVID-19 charities.

“Since JFrog’s inception, we’ve partnered with the community to bring top tools and methodologies to the market, always with the developer in mind,” said Shlomi Ben Haim, co-founder and CEO of JFrog. “Community safety also means we can’t all be together in the usual way, but the need to share is still there. We wanted to partner again with the open-source and DevOps communities and deliver not only the top-shelf content they’re used to from swampUP, but also to give back to our global communities as we collectively accelerate the cure for this virus.”

All-virtual this year, swampUP will “fast-forward” the current DevOps landscape with visionary keynote addresses and thought‑provoking sessions from industry experts covering the latest trends and best practices around software distribution, containers, automation, security, and package management.

"swampUP 2020 is going to be super exciting especially for APAC and India since this is the first time that we are having an exclusive 2-day conference just for our APAC and India customers. We see tremendous growth and potential in this market and continue to focus and invest here.” Kavita Viswanath, General Manager, JFrog India.

JFrog is bringing together an impressive list of industry thought leaders and DevOps luminaries to offer a unique combination of insight, entertainment and inspiration, including:

* Kohsuke Kawaguchi, co-CEO, Launchable, Inc., and creator of Jenkins

* John Willis, vice president of DevOps and digital practices, RedHat

* Wayne Chatelain, senior manager of software engineering, Capital One

* Jessica Deen, Azure Avenger

The annual conference is divided into two parts, with the first day focused on delivering hands-on DevOps training alongside other practitioners and peers. Specialized courses led by DevOps experts are designed to empower attendees to fast-forward their DevOps or DevSecOps knowledge and abilities. The second, full conference day will begin with an industry keynote address followed by breakout sessions following four separate streams: Cloud Native, DevSecOps, Enterprise DevOps and Digital Transformation. Over 30 sessions will be delivered from thought leaders from global companies including Google, Microsoft, Adobe and more.

“These may be unprecedented times, but we can come together in unprecedented ways to both advance our DevOps skills and contribute towards the race to a cure at the same time,” added Ben Haim. “We’re proud to do our part, and we invite the community to partner with us in this conference with a purpose.”

Registration for swampUP is open and spots for both training and the conference are filling quickly. Secure your spot today to ensure you don’t miss this exciting virtual event.

To learn more, visit https://swampup.jfrog.com

NSDC Collaborates with TCS iON to Enable Virtual Training for Skilling Ecosystem Across India

With the vision to provide uninterrupted online learning to millions of students across the country during the ongoing pandemic, National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC)  has collaborated with TCS iON, a strategic unit of Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) (BSE: 532540, NSE: TCS), a leading global IT services, consulting and business solutions organization. This coalition will provide NSDC’s training partners access to the TCS iON Digital Glass Room, enabling them to move classroom vocational skills training to online mode for millions of students across the country.

The objective of this partnership is to enable NSDC’s Training Partners to continue with their scheduled training and lessons; learners to learn from home under the guidance of professionals; skill seekers to participate in various learning engagement activities digitally and complete the hands-on sessions post the lockdown is eased.  Both the training partners and the learners can continue to adopt digital technologies in addition to the physical hands-on sessions in a “Learning as Usual” mode.

“In today’s disruptive environment, digital solutions provide live virtual classrooms and self-study courses, enabling continuity of training and learning. NSDC’s collaboration with TCS is aimed at facilitating innovative methods to promote skill training and access for learners.” said, Dr. Manish Kumar, MD & CEO, NSDC.

The TCS iON Digital Glass Room will enable trainers to deliver lectures, create and share content, share and evaluate assignments, conduct formative tests, and monitor learners’ progress. The platform also enables online collaboration among students and trainers through debates, quizzes, polls and surveys. Students and trainers can share posts, like, vote and chat with each other, ensuring seamless education.

The alliance strengthens NSDC’s online content aggregation platform – eSkill India, through which it enables e-learning amongst skill seekers and will contribute towards strengthening the Skill India mission. NSDC’s robust network of over 500 training partners across the country will now be able to access the TCS iON Digital Glass Room to seamlessly transition to a virtual teaching and learning environment and continue with their skilling programs, during the lockdown and thereafter.

“Over the years, NSDC has been providing excellent services in various aspects of skilling in India. We are extremely delighted in providing TCS iON Digital Glass Room to NSDC’s training partners so that trainings go on uninterrupted and in a smooth manner during the unprecedented pandemic. It is our endeavour to empower our partners with all the necessary digital skills so that they can encounter any given situation.” said Venguswamy Ramaswamy, Global Head TCS iON.

Over the last 10 years, NSDC, operating under the aegis of the Ministry of Skill Development & Entrepreneurship (MSDE), has collaborated with the private sector, state governments, small and medium size businesses, industry sector experts, academic institutions, and foreign government agencies to build a vibrant skilling ecosystem in India. With more than 500 partners and 11,000+ training centres across India, TCS iON’s offering Digital Glass Room will help in supporting training across sectors.

“TCS iON Digital Glass Room” is a solution that enables training institutions to rapidly go live with classes within few hours of sharing the user data. TCS iON is offering this solution free to every training institution in the country.  Currently, the platform supports more than 3.2 million learners and it aims millions of new learners to be benefited from this solution. The programme facilitates digital learning through groups or communities’ structure. Training Partners can now seamlessly transition to a virtual teaching environment and continue teaching the students beyond the traditional classrooms. Trainers can deliver lectures, create and share content, share and evaluate assignments, conduct formative tests and monitor learners’ progress. It can also enable online collaboration amongst the students through debates, quizzes, polls and surveys. Students and faculty can like, vote, share and chat with each other. The training partners and the learners become productive in TCS iON Digital Glass Room in a matter of just a few hours. The offering is free for all Training Partners in India who can directly register at https://iur.ls/DigitalGlassRoom   

Retail Aggregator F5 Closes Seed Round Led by Venture Catalysts

Venture Catalysts, India’s first, largest and pioneering integrated incubator and accelerator platform, recently invested an undisclosed amount in retail aggregator F5. The New Delhi-based startup, incubated by Gurgaon based leading Incubator, Huddle, has previously raised funding from prominent angel investors and micro-VCs including LetsVenture, Madhusudan Kela backed Singularity, Artworks Founder Mohit Satyanand, Tres Ventures, Country Delight founders and Startup Buddy to name a few. 

Founded by IIM-Lucknow alumni Raghav Arora and Lalit Kumar Aggarwal in 2018, F5 is committed to creating a unique and first-of-its-kind supply chain and retail aggregation model that specifically caters to the workplace retail segment, which is an estimated $64 billion industry. Keeping in line the government’s ‘Vocal for Local’ campaign, the company is also empowering neighborhood shops and small businesses by providing them with end-to-end support to reach more customers. 

As a workplace retail brand and an aggregator of local but high-quality refreshment stores, the startup has successfully on-boarded 4000+ paid consumers across Delhi and Lucknow, whilst enabling and optimising the revenue of these vendors. With tea as its primary offering, F5 sells more than 8000 cups of tea per day on average, recording annual revenues worth INR 150 lacs.

The USP of F5 lies in its multi-faceted, multi touchpoint approach to providing new opportunities for its partner vendors to up-sell and cross-sell their products ranging from refreshments to services, thereby creating a dynamic micro-market and increasing revenues of its partners by 40%.

Putting light on F5, Raghav Arora, Co-Founder F5, highlighted “Our consumers wanted us to have physical stores and be near them for their immediate needs. Just a couple of months back, we decided to cater this demand by partnering with already existing vendors. We have so far partnered with 20+ such vendors and have plans to partner with 5000+ vendors within NCR only. For customers, we are a brand for their workplace needs that is fresher and more authentic. For our vendors, we have become their access point for multiple partnerships that can boost their business and revenues. F5 is also becoming a unique supply chain for many tech and non-tech consumer brands,”

Speaking on the investment, Dr Apoorv Ranjan Sharma, Founder, Venture Catalysts, said, “The COVID-19 crisis has posed unprecedented challenges to India’s business ecosystem, making us realize the importance of local manufacturing and supply chains. As emphasised by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, it is the time to revive our local industries and businesses that struggle to cope with larger brands despite offering quality products/services. F5 is doing exactly this – upskilling as well as providing technology, delivery and management support to local vendors and SMEs while helping organize the highly fragmented workplace retail space. The startup has already exhibited a robust growth trajectory, and we are confident that the latest funding round will further add to its strengths.” 

Expressing his delight, Lalit Kumar Aggarwal, Co-Founder F5, added, “We are delighted to get Venture Catalysts on board alongside other investors. We will use the funding to optimize our supply chain operations and reach a wider audience. While we have started our journey quite recently, the investment from Venture Catalysts comes as validation of our work. We look forward to a fruitful association with them.”

“From day one, the F5 team has focussed on localisation, quality, hygiene and efficiency, as the four mantras to their business, in order to successfully provide their service to all their stakeholders. As an incubator, and their partners, their growth has also showcased a lot of discipline towards these moats, and it’s a delight to have the VCATS team joining as part of this journey”, Sanil Sachar, Founding Partner, Huddle.

Over the next year, F5 plans to expand the scope of its retail aggregation and supply chain through “workplace retail delivery service” by offering a wide range of products such as extended portfolio of refreshments, meals, beverages along with and services including delivery pickups and drop offs, micro ATMs, and mobile recharges, among others. The company also looks forward to enabling and empowering more local stores in the country that lack infrastructural support. 

About VCats

Venture Catalysts is India’s first integrated incubator. It invests $250K – $1.5 Million in early stage start-ups that has potential to create enduring value for over a long period of time. Venture Catalysts brings a lethal combination of Capital, Mentoring and Business Network to help investee companies to succeed. Their innovation provides value to start-ups through its angel network, funding, community, services and co-working facility.