Category business

Mumbai, 7th Feb 2023: Delhivery Ltd., India’s largest fully integrated logistics provider, has partnered with eSamudaay, a software solution provider, to enable rural businesses to scale by serving customers across India.

Coming together of Delhivery and eSamudaay, network partners of ONDC, effectively broadens the footprint of local products and aligns with the government of India’s plans of ‘Make in India, for the world’.

Bengaluru-based eSamudaay has launched a tech-enabled platform called TyohaarForever Platform to curate India’s vast range of hyperlocal products produced by local artisans. Through the partnership, eSamudaay will leverage Delhivery’s extensive pan-India network of 18,400+ pin codes to make these local products accessible across the country.

The platform enabled the first set of cross-country orders for raw, unpasteurized Himalayan Honey produced by Tenacious Bee Collective. A Delhivery field executive picked up the products from Jia valley, located in the Kangra district of Himachal Pradesh, to ship to Delhi, Mumbai, and Bangalore.

Tenacious Bee Collective is a start-up that brings local farmers on a single platform with apiarists and scientists. Their aim is to spread the use of raw and unpasteurized honey and help local beekeepers enhance their incomes. Tenacious Bee Collective is in the process of being onboarded on the ONDC network.

Speaking on the initiative, Mr. T Koshy, Managing Director, and Chief Executive Officer, ONDC, said,” ONDC, with its agenda of democratizing digital commerce, aims to bring the smallest of sellers onto the network and provides them with a level playing field. I’m delighted to see two network participants, Delhivery and eSamudaay, enable ‘Tenacious Bee Collective,’ a small company from Kangra, Himachal Pradesh on-board onto ONDC to take its products to customers across India.”

AjithPai, Chief Operating Officer, Delhivery, commented on the partnership, “We are excited to collaborate with ONDC network enablers such as eSamudaay to open up new vistas for delivering value and creating wealth at the grassroots level using digital technologies. With Delhivery’s technology-enabled, fully-integrated logistics solutions, entrepreneurs and businesses from the remotest villages and settlements can serve customers across the country. India has huge demand from different tiers of economy, and ONDC will truly unlock the growth potential of digital commerce in India.”

Commenting on the platform, SunjayKeswani, Chief Executive Officer, Digital Commerce Business, eSamudaay, said, “Taking off from our mission of creating decentralized digital communities, TyohaarForever is one such platform that enables the curation of best of the products from rural communities from the deepest of locations In India. We work with them so that these very sellers and artisans can take charge of their own livelihood improvement and economic betterment. The core beneficiaries of our initiative are sellers in informal settlements and tier-2, tier-3, and tier-4 cities. In fact, we are driving ONDC initiatives in what we know as Bharat.”

The Hiranandani Thane Half Marathon is back with its 9th edition and this time, it’s not just a run but a movement towards health and the environment. Milind Soman, a fitness icon, will serve as the brand ambassador and will lead the way, starting the event with a ceremonial flag-off.

Hiranandani, as a brand, has always been committed to the well-being of the environment and has introduced numerous green initiatives in all its townships. The #RhymeForEarth initiative is a testament to this commitment and the Hiranandani Thane Half Marathon is taking this cause a step further.

So don’t just run, but run with a purpose—pledge to be mindful of your carbon footprint and join the movement to protect mother earth. Let’s #RunForEarth

HTHM9 will be flagged off on February 12, 2023, from Hiranandani Estate, Thane. In this edition there will be three categories:

•  Half Marathon – 21.097 km
•  Green Run – 10 km
•  Family Run – 4 km

Date: 12th February 2023

Time: 5.30 am onwards

Website: https://hthm.co.in/

Venue: HTHM9 will be flagged off from TMC ground, near New horizon, Hiranandani Estate, Thane.

Bengaluru, 7th February 2023: Cashfree Payments, India’s leading payments, and API banking solutions company, launched ‘Co-lend’, India’s first fully automated escrow management solution for co-lending. ‘Co-lend’ has been developed in line with the digital lending guidelines announced by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). It facilitates instant disbursal with auto reconciliation and a dashboard for managing multiple partnerships. Additionally, it requires no manual intervention, automatically notifies the loan management system, and eliminates reconciliation efforts.

Currently, in co-lending partnerships, the reconciliation of funding to the escrow accounts for disbursement and repayments is done manually, resulting in errors and delays. The lender and originator pool money into the Co-lend escrow, and then disbursals and collections happen from and into the escrow. In this process, the Loan Management System (LMS), the Loan Origination System (LOS), and the actual loan disbursal, as well as repayment, are disconnected, resulting in reporting delays and challenges in accounting and reconciliation for each player in the partnership. Cashfree Payments’ ‘Co-lend’ addresses all these challenges and makes the entire process automated increasing efficiency and accuracy.

Cashfree Payments’ ‘Co-lend’ provides a robust platform for co-lending originators and lenders, especially the ones sanctioning high volumes of loans, where real-time disbursement, repayment, and reconciliation are primary requirements. Cashfree Payments has also partnered with Loan Management Services and Loan Origination Service providers as well as banks to enable a plug-and-play offering for lenders to manage all their co-lending and add new partners with ease. The current set of banks that already support a Co-lend integration are ICICI Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Yes Bank, IndusInd Bank, and Axis Bank.

Akash Sinha, Co-founder and CEO of Cashfree Payments, said, “With the exponential expansion in digital lending, there is a tremendous demand for compliant and scalable solutions. We are pleased to announce that Cashfree Payments now offers a co-lending platform to provide NBFCs and banks with a one-stop solution for escrow management, disbursal, and repayment, with a focus on automating payments and complex reconciliation involved. As an innovator in the API banking and payments space, we have strived to deliver this solution at a vital juncture to assure continuity and development for our merchants while maintaining compliance at the forefront.”

With over 50% market share among payment processors, Cashfree Payments today leads the way in bulk disbursals in India with its product Payouts. Recently, India’s largest lender, SBI invested in Cashfree Payments, underscoring the company’s role in building a robust payments ecosystem. The company works closely with all leading banks to build the core payments and banking infrastructure that powers the company’s products and is also integrated with major platforms such as Shopify, Wix, Paypal, Amazon Pay, Paytm, and Google Pay. Apart from India, Cashfree Payments’ products are used in eight other countries including the USA, Canada, and UAE.

The 20th edition of BioAsia – The Marquee Healthcare and Life Sciences event, organized by the Government of Telangana, has announced that the coveted Genome Valley Excellence Award for the year 2023 will be conferred upon Prof. Robert S. Langer, in light of his pioneering research that has led to the development of the first commercial mRNA vaccines used for a variety of infectious diseases. Langer is currently the David H. Koch Institute Professor at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), USA. He is also being acknowledged for his exemplary research in human health, including the detection, monitoring, and treatment of cancer. A veteran in his field, his remarkable contributions to biomedical and therapeutic research include developing long-term and controlled-release drug delivery systems used for a variety of applications including cancer therapy, insulin, and vaccines.

February 7, 2023, New Delhi: Lumenore, a platform that develops advanced analytics and business intelligence solutions incorporated with intuitive and AI-Powered modules, today announced that it has entered into a strategic partnership with iQ Innovation Hub LLP, an integrated technology partner specializing in consulting and delivering enterprise solutions. This move will help Lumenore increase business momentum and expansion into the U.S., EU, and Indian markets.

Lumenore is conceptualized to make analytics simple and flexible to help organizations achieve more with data with faster access to actionable business insights. The platform’s unique features, like NLQ-powered conversational analytics (‘AskMe Anything’), AI-recommended insights (‘Do you know’), self-service solutions and building a data universe have helped enterprises across the globe accelerate their data transformation journey and empower data-driven decision-making across industries.

Under the agreement, Lumenore has authorized iQ Innovation to purchase and/or license products and to grant access to resell them in the regions. iQ Innovation provides end-to-end support in intelligent automation, cloud solutions, cloud migrations, web development, mobile development, API development, ETL, and automation testing & blockchain in industries like healthcare, automobile, and e-commerce. Through this partnership, Lumenore expects to add more than 10,000 no.s of userbase in the IT and healthcare sector in the next two quarters.

Talking about the partnership, Mr. Naren Vijay, EVP – Growth, Lumenore said, “Brands nowadays are looking to access the availability of near real-time data for analytics. At Lumenore, we have the expertise and have changed how organizations of any size in any industry do things. We are happy to partner with iQ Innovation which strives to build intelligent business solutions like us. With their strong presence in the healthcare and technology sector, we are looking forward to further accelerating our go-to-market strategy and reaching new organizations in India, U.K and U.S region.”

“After observing the evolution of hyper-automation in the post-COVID-era, we decided that now was the right time to develop a new range of services to respond better to the industry needs. Lumenore is a great brand to bring under the iQ Innovation banner and offers us potentially in all the markets we serve. The intelligent BI Analytics platform will bolster our core offering and further defines our footprint globally,” said Ms. Gayatri Dandekar, Business Development Lead, iQ Innovation.

Lumenore is making its entire dashboard and conversational analytics available to end users to help them make better use of the data collected. Using Lumenore’s BI platform will help organizations reduce their overall reporting and dashboarding cost by 30% while improving the efficiency of reporting operations by 50%.

New Delhi, February 2023: Pullman New Delhi Aerocity has curated the ‘Thai Food Festival’ from 10th- 19th February 2023 at its award-winning Pan-Asian restaurant -Honk. The 10-day festival  will be the ultimate gourmet opportunity to taste a range of authentic Thai dishes by showcasing the gastronomical journey of renowned Chef Vina from Thailand.

With the intention to bring to life the very essence of Thailand, Pullman New Delhi Aerocity is delighted to introduce a specially curated Thai menu that includes appetizing dishes like Pad med mamuang, Pad Thai noodles, Gaeng knew waan, Rak baw kab Naphung Sos and Thaptim crop.

Speaking on the occasion, Chef Vina says, “Thai Cuisine has been much liked in the south and it is now becoming popular in the northern cities of the country as well. With this thought, I am excited to join hands with Pullman New Delhi Aerocity to showcase my culinary journey through an exclusively curated menu of traditional Thai delicacies.”

With this Food Festival, Pullman New Delhi Aerocity aims to offer its guests with a diverse F&B experience.

When – 10th to 19th February 2023 [ 7 PM Onwards]

Where – Honk, Pullman New Delhi Aerocity

Price – A-la-carte Menu [ ₹ 4000 plus taxes for 2 ]

Bangalore, 07 February 2023: Air India, India’s leading airline and a Star Alliance member, has announced the latest step in its progress optimisation of network following the full subsidiarization of Air Asia India in November 2022.

In this current phase, three stations – Bhubaneswar (BBI), Bagdogra (IXB) and Surat (STV) – will now be served by Air Asia India, rather than Air India. Delhi- Visakhapatnam and Mumbai-Lucknow will be operated exclusively by Air India. In all cases, the flight frequency remains the same.

Additionally, Air India will enhance connections from Delhi and/or Mumbai to Ahmedabad (AMD), Cochin (COK), Trivandrum (TRV), Visakhapatnam (VTZ) and Nagpur (NAG) to enable seamless, two-way domestic-international-connectivity with long-haul international flights operating from the two metros. Air India will also be increasing frequencies between Delhi and Chennai, Hyderabad and Bengaluru, and between Mumbai to Chennai, Kolkata and Bengaluru.

Commenting on this expansion, Mr. Campbell Wilson, CEO and MD, Air India, said, “The acquisition of Air Asia India, together with the ongoing restructuring and expansion of Air India, accords an unprecedented opportunity to optimise the Group’s flight network. Specifically, it allows us to better match routes with the most appropriate airline business model, focusing the full-service airline on metro-metro markets and high connectivity routes, and the low-cost airline on more leisure oriented or price sensitive markets. This will improve our attractiveness to corporate travellers and leisure travellers alike, as well as improve connectivity between key domestic cities and Air India’s fast-expanding international network.”

As part of its ongoing, Group-wide portfolio optimization efforts, in the future Covestro will increasingly focus the Engineering Plastics business entity on its core business. As a result, the Maezio® product line with highly specialized fiber-reinforced composites and the associated production at the Markt Bibart site are to be discontinued in the course of the current year. “With its Group-wide ‘Sustainable Future’ strategy, Covestro is consistently aligning itself with the needs of high-growth customer industries to generate sustainable growth in an increasingly competitive market,” says Lily Wang, Head of Covestro’s Engineering Plastics business entity. “Despite major investments in the development of the Maezio® business and in production technology, as well as technological advances achieved as a result, we were ultimately able to leverage only a few synergies with our core business. Therefore, after a thorough review, we have decided that the Maezio® product line will be discontinued. This decision was not easy for us,” Wang adds.

Covestro started working in the field of continuous fiber-reinforced thermoplastic composites in 2015 with the acquisition of TCG Thermoplast Composite GmbH. Following the strategic decision to discontinue the Maezio® product line after almost eight years, Covestro searched intensively for a buyer for the Markt Bibart site. As this attempt was ultimately not successful, Covestro decided to close the site later this year. Most recently, 48 of the approximately 7,600 employees in Germany were employed there. “We have initiated an extensive sales process, which, unfortunately, was not successful. Our focus on the ground is now on providing the best possible support to all colleagues. To this end, we will be working closely with the local employee representatives to find fair solutions for all those affected and to ensure that the closure process is socially responsible,” emphasizes Site Manager John Bauer.

A focus on core business

Thermoplastic fiber composites are a highly specialized and competitive niche business. Covestro has invested in building up the business since taking over the site in 2015 and has made very good technical progress in production. Nevertheless, the company has not succeed to scale the Maezio® business with sufficient success in the market. There are only a few synergies with the core business of the Engineering Plastics business entity and the vast majority of key account business. In addition, the typical customers for thermoplastic composites only order on the basis of joint, complex and time-consuming technical application development, and then only in very small quantities. This is in marked contrast to the far predominant distribution model and key account business in the Covestro Group.

Covestro is thus sharpening its focus on its core Engineering Plastics business by discontinuing the Maezio® products. Major customers in the automotive, electronics and healthcare divisions, among others, use these high-quality polycarbonates for further processing in a wide range of products.

International Day of Women and Girls in Science is celebrated on February 11 to honour and recognise the contributions that women have made to science, to encourage young girls and women to consider careers in STEM fields, and to educate men about their responsibility to support and mentor women and girls who are interested in technical and scientific fields in their academic and professional lives.

Indian women have often shown that science and business can coexist, either by doing great things in the field of research or breaking into the world of entrepreneurship. It takes far more than we believe it can to turn a concept for beginning your own business into reality. These five ladies have merely overcome all expectations set by society to achieve their current status. They have decided to pursue entrepreneurship as a means of resolving the country’s current problems, and they are succeeding brilliantly.

Here is a list of the top women entrepreneurs in India who, despite all obstacles and setbacks, managed to start their own companies from scratch thanks to their unwavering resolve and work ethic.

Upasana Taku (MobiKwik)

MobiKwik and Zaakpay both have Upasana Taku as a co-founder. A digital wallet and mobile phone-based payment system are both offered by MobiKwik, a supplier of payment services.

Upasana completed her secondary education in Surat before enrolling in the Industrial Engineering programme at the National Institute of Technology, Jalandhar. She subsequently completed her MS in Management Science and Engineering at Stanford University in the US. She began her career in San Diego with HSBC before moving on to PayPal. 2009 saw her return and launch Zaakpay. At the same time, she met Bipin, who she later learned was keen to contribute to the enhancement of the startup ecosystem.

Within six months, Upasana was assisting him in various areas of the company; subsequently, she became a co-founder of Mobikwik. As a mobile wallet, Mobikwik launched its business to make digital payments simple for its consumers. Since then, their use cases have grown to encompass bill payments, online shopping, food delivery, payments at gas stations, big-box retailers, pharmacies, Kirana shops, etc. Through the Unified Payments Interface (“UPI”), MobiKwik Wallet, and MobiKwik Wallet to Bank payments, their platform also supports peer-to-peer payments. In addition to more than 3.45 million e-commerce, physical retail, and biller partners, they have accumulated over 108 million Registered Users throughout the years.

In 2017, she was given the Best Woman Entrepreneur Award.

Sonam Srivastava (Wright Research)

Sonam Srivastava is the Founder of Wright Research, an Artificial Intelligence-powered Robo Advisor.

Wright Research is a Mumbai-based SEBI Registered Investment Advisory firm and an AI-powered Robo advisor creating multi-factor tactical model portfolios. It was founded in 2019 by Sonam Srivastava (IIT Kanpur alumnus). Wright Research uses Deep-Tech, AI & ML modules to invest and a smart beta-based investment strategy backed by quantitative research. It’s a complete computer-based strategy that reduces the possibility of silly human errors and manages the risk effectively and efficiently. Their quant research-based portfolios like Wright Momentum have given up to 59.23% CAGR in the last couple of years.

Through artificial intelligence and data science-based research in investing, they help investors find the best investments. They work across market factors, time horizons & asset classes to maximise returns while minimising the risks. Startups often need help with using technology, and they have also struggled with this. Some of the difficulties of note have been: at the early stage, they had limited financial and human resources, making investing in and implementing new technologies challenging. As startups grow and handle increasing amounts of sensitive data, they face challenges related to data security and compliance with relevant regulations. Scalability is a constant challenge that requires them to invest continuously in and adapt their systems.

They see an immense opportunity in using AI for Financial Applications. AI and ML can be used to analyse financial data, make predictions about market trends and investment opportunities, and create a much better user experience than traditional means. Similarly, there is an excellent opportunity in Retail where AI and ML can optimise pricing and inventory management, personalise customer recommendations, and improve supply chain efficiency. In other fields like Health care, Manufacturing, Transportation and Energy, AI & ML can continue to add immense benefits.

Divya Gokulnath (Byju’s)

Byju’s, one of India’s largest ed-tech firms, was co-founded by Divya Gokulnath.

From Bengaluru, Divya pursued a B.Tech in biotechnology. She began working as a teacher before helping to co-found Byju’s in 2011. More than 150 million students worldwide receive highly adaptable, interesting, and efficient learning solutions from Byju’s, a leading company in ed-tech. The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, Sequoia Capital, Bond Capital, Silver Lake, BlackRock, Sofina, Verlinvest, Tencent, Prosus (formerly Naspers Ventures), General Atlantic, Tiger Global, Qatar Investment Authority, Owl Ventures, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Times Internet, Aarin Capital, and IFC are just a few of the prestigious investors who support it. They have acquired more than 15 businesses since 2017, including ones from the United States, the United Kingdom, Austria, India, and Singapore.

With tools that lie at the intersection of mobile, interactive content and individualised learning approaches, Byju’s offers a top-notch learning experience. Learning is made entertaining by BYJU’s geography-independent solutions and 12,000+ teachers through visual and contextual programmes that adjust to each student’s particular learning style, ability level, and speed. Additionally, in order to increase engagement and support even more students in becoming active and lifelong learners, they have creative relationships with some of the most well-known businesses in the world, such as Disney and Google.

Divya oversaw brand marketing, content, and user experience during the COVID-19 shutdown in India. She won several honours, including Women Who Make India, the Entrepreneur of the Year, and the MAKERS India Conference.

Kiran Mazumdar Shaw (Biocon Limited)

The founder and current executive chairperson of Biocon Limited is Kiran Mazumdar Shaw. Bangalore-based Biocon Limited is a biopharmaceutical business.

After completing her zoology undergraduate degree at Bangalore University in 1973, Kiran went on to obtain her master degree in brewing from the University of Ballarat in Melbourne. In 1978, she founded Biocon India in the garage of her Bangalore rental home.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted its clearance to Biocon in 2001 to produce a cholesterol-lowering chemical, making it the first Indian firm to do so. Later, the business saw rapid growth.

India’s largest and fully integrated biopharmaceutical business, Biocon Limited, publicly listed in 2004. It is an international biopharmaceutical company that provides services to clients in over 120 nations. They have made sophisticated medicines for chronic illnesses, where medical needs are mostly unmet and treatment costs are high, accessible thanks to their aim of improving global healthcare through innovative and reasonably priced biopharmaceuticals.

In the meanwhile, Kiran began to receive several honours, including Padma Bhushan, Businesswoman of the Year, and Technology Pioneer.

Khushboo Jain (Impact Guru)

Co-founder and chief operating officer of Impact Guru, a platform for fundraising for organisations, personal causes, and medical costs, is Khushboo Jain. From 2004 to 2007, she earned both an MBA and a bachelor’s degree in business and management.

She has degrees in a variety of other fields as well. Through its crowdfunding platform and international partners, ImpactGuru has raised more than $200 million since its founding in 2015, which has aided in providing medical care for Indians suffering from serious illnesses.

Through the website, over 10 lakh contributors from 165 countries have given an average of $1.50 each minute.

Impact Guru is a Harvard-incubated fintech startup that provides an online platform for corporate and individual donors to support social causes in India. Since its launch, Impact Guru has raised Rs 329 crores for a variety of causes, making it the largest crowdfunding site in India. They were incubated at the Harvard Innovation Lab Venture Initiation Program in the United States and the Impact Hub’s PACT Social Enterprise Incubator (Singapore). Mumbai, New Delhi, Singapore, Hong Kong, Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur, and San Francisco are among the locations where Impact Guru maintains offices.

ImpactGuru has generated more than Rs 15 crore from more than 800 COVID-19-related fundraisers to assist everyday gamblers, elderly people impacted by the crisis, healthcare professionals whose salaries have been slashed as a result of COVID-19, as well as animals that are suffering because of this issue.

New Delhi, 7th February 2023: After a two-year absence, the iconic and much-awaited Kala Ghoda Arts Festival is back to celebrate cinema, food, literature, visual art, culture, music and more.

The Indian Performing Rights Society (IPRS) will host two events at the festival: “Sadda Haq Aithe Rakh” on 7th February, between 6 pm- 7 pm at NGMA, Colaba. The workshop will be conducted by Eminent Lyricist, Screenwriter & IPRS Board Member Mayur Puri, who will take the audience through the nuances of Songwriting and How to Manage your Rights as a Creator.

‘Women Changing Music’ is a roundtable conversation organized by the IPRS at the festival celebrating women game changers in the Indian music industry. Srushti Tawde, Priyanka Khimani, Mercy Tetseo from The Tetseo Sisters, Gauri Yadwadkar, and Nirmika Singh will be among the notable panelists. The engaging roundtable will be hosted by Stutee Ghosh. On 9th February, 6 pm – 7 pm at NGMA, Colaba.

IPRS has initiated a slew of initiatives aimed at identifying, empowering, and promoting female music creators. The IPRS, ‘Women Changing Music’ roundtable will provide an inspirational and enlightening chance to hear prominent women in music who are smashing the glass ceiling by making history and leading the way for others to follow.

Commenting on the same, Lyricist, screenwriter, filmmaker, and IPRS Board Member Mayur Puri said, “As a long-time member of IPRS, I am excited to host the Sadda Haq Aithe Rakh workshop for songwriters, composers, and those interested in music. From the moment children are born till they breathe their last breath; music plays a significant role in their life. This workshop will take the audience on a journey of music creation, and how a lyricist and composer come together to make music. It will benefit all music makers who are primarily concerned with their creativity and are unaware of issues such as copyright, royalties, and other technicalities that go with the music they create. The line between the audience and the creator is blurred, making it very important for creators to understand their rights. I am delighted that one of the city’s largest cultural festivals, the Kala Ghoda Arts Festival, has partnered with the IPRS on this initiative.”

Brinda Miller, Chairperson, Kala Ghoda Association, spoke about the glorious legacy of the festival, “It is a festival for and by the people. We are thrilled that the city’s beloved festival will return after a two-year hiatus. Much has happened during this period, and our theme “Past Forward” pays tribute to our 22-year legacy while designing a festival of the future. It represents the slow transition from a period of inactivity to an era of optimism, change and growth. Every year, people and enterprises from across the country come together to make this festival possible, and this year is no exception.”

Educational and interactive programs like “Sadda Haq Aithe Rakh” aims to raise awareness about current developments in the music industry and help musicians understand their rights, the importance of music royalties and how to make more with the music they create. The “Women Changing Music” roundtable is another step taken by IPRS to identify, empower and promote female creators and celebrate the women in music, who are creating history, and paving the path for others to follow.

Founded in 1999, the Kala Ghoda Arts Festival has become one of the biggest street art festivals in the country. It draws visitors from Mumbai and all over the world. With the aim of promoting arts, crafts, music and cultural heritage.