Category business

New Delhi/Mumbai, February 21, 2023: Crayons Advertising Limited, India’s leading integrated and innovative advertising agency, today announced the filing of its Draft Red Herring Prospectus (DR P) with NSE Emerge for its initial public offering. The company plans to offer 64.30 lakh Equity Shares of face value Rs 10/- each through the book-building process. Corporate Capital Ventures is the book-running lead manager to the issue. While Skyline Financial Services Is Registrar of the issue.

Promoted by Kunal Lalani, Crayons Advertising is a three-and-a-half-decade-young, award-winning, and integrated firm that provides a high-end ecosystem comprising an end-to-end ad tech communication solutions platform for advertising media services. Its services span brand strategy, creative solutions, events & activations, digital media, and traditional media planning and buying. The proceeds from the initial public offering will be used in building infrastructure and cutting-edge technology for expansion (Rs. 15.28 crore) and funding working
capital requirements (Rs. 14.50 crore).

The Indian advertising market was valued at nearly Rs. 67,000 crores in 2020 by Expert Market Research. The market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 11% during the forecast period of 2022-27 to reach Rs. 1,25,300 crore by 2026. The Indian advertising market will remain the fastest growing in the world over the next two years, as per a new report by Dentsu International. With a growth rate of 16 percent in 2022 and ad spending that will increase by 15.2 percent in 2023 and 15.7 percent in 2024.

Recently, the company announced that it won marquee mandates, including TATA SONS, National Skill Development Corporation, Indian Oil Corporation, TATA Croma, and Bank of Baroda. The mandate of the National Skill Development Corporation is to transform the brand notion and strengthen the connection with youth. The agency’s experience in handling government businesses played a vital role in the final selection for taking over its social media mandate.

Within the TATA Group Companies, Crayons recently bagged the social media mandate for TATA SONS. In the last couple of years, the agency has handled and executed multiple prestigious campaigns for the TATA Group. Crayons also worked on the Tata Mumbai Marathon campaign, which serves as a case study in awareness and engagement. Furthermore, in the past year, Crayons Advertising was appointed by TATA to launch the historic Air India transition campaigning of Change’ and handle TATA Croma’s creative mandate.

New Delhi, February 2023: Vanity Wagon – India’s largest clean beauty marketplace, the one-stop e-Commerce platform is launching its three-day virtual event Mix It Up Online from 23rd February to 25th February 2023. This one-of-a-kind event will feature Masterclasses from Experts, Brand Launches, Cross Talks, Live Commerce Sessions, Influencer Collabs, Giveaways, and much more.

The event will delve into the experts’ perspectives on self-care and concerns that everyone faces on a daily basis, as well as their solutions that will have a significant impact on one’s life. In addition to addressing and digging deeper into skin issues, Vanity Wagon will offer advice on self-grooming and reflect on the importance of health and wellness through these masterclasses and cross-talks.

Prateek Ruhail, Co-Founder and CEO of Vanity Wagon said, “This is the first virtual flagship event that Vanity Wagon is hosting. Customers will get to attend discussions between industry professionals, regarding the most popular health and beauty trends. The event will feature exclusive content as well as specialized industry and topic-specific inputs by experts, and is designed to cater to all audiences.”

Naina Ruhail, Founder and Co-CEO of Vanity Wagon said, “We want to connect with as many consumers as we can, and through this event, we will get a platform to spread our message about clean beauty solutions. We’ll be able to provide consumers with a fun shopping experience through Mix It Up.”

This three-day event will witness exclusive brand collaborations and launches on Vanity Wagon’s website along with Q&A sessions to make this event more interactive. They are also collaborating with NGOs like Smile Foundation and The Disposal Company to raise funds for their causes. The event will conclude with Musical Performances and exclusive Discounts & Offers. So, make sure to tune in and Mix It Up with Vanity Wagon.

Kolkata, 20th February 2023: South Kolkata Nrityangan, one of the renowned classical dance institutions in Kolkata recently organized their maiden edition of the Classical Dance Festival titled ‘Nrityasamaroh’ at the Indian Council For Cultural Relations – Kolkata. The glorious evening commenced with an opening Group Dance by the students of South Kolkata Nrityangan. The audience also witnessed engrossing performances by legendary artists from various parts of India. Guru Gopika Verma from Kerala who is a Sangeet Natak Academy awardee and an exponent of ‘Mohiniyattam’, Guru Gajendra Panda from Odisha and an exemplary Odissi performer, Guru Sandeep Mallik from Delhi Kathak Kendra, an outstanding ‘Kathak’ artist and from Kolkata Smt. Bimbavati Devi, a noted ‘Manipuri’ exponent and Sri Rajdeep Banerjee, an eminent Bharatanatyam presented on stage their extraordinary moves.

The concept of ‘Nrityasamaroh’ is originally conceived by Smt. Jhinook Mukherjee Sinha is an acclaimed Bharatanatyam performer and also the founder of one of the oldest dance schools in Kolkata, South Kolkata Nrityangan. She is the disciple of Dr. Guru Smt. Thankamani Kutty and have impressed people across the globe through her versatile performances on several occasions. She is an impanelled artist under the Ministry of Culture, Govt. of India, Eastern Zonal Cultural Centre (EZCC) as well as Doordarshan Kolkata. On January 2023 at the G20 Summit which was held in Kolkata, Smt Jhinook Mukherjee Sinha headed choreography of the cultural program which was a part of this Summit.

“The initiative ‘Nrityasamaroh’ is specially curated to provide an esteemed platform to the budding artists inhabiting the remote areas of Kolkata as well as West Bengal. The show shed light on the blooming talents whose skills and creativity remained obscure due to certain socio-economic issues and the unfair challenges imposed on them against their will. The prime purpose of this cultural evening is to eradicate these boundaries. By rendering valuable support, our pledge is to assist the young, underprivileged artists to overcome all the limitations and disparities surrounding them so that they can achieve the deserved prestige, and recognition and flourish further”, said Smt. Jhinook Mukherjee Sinha, Director, ‘Nrityasamaroh’.

It will not be an exaggeration to say that this evening surely captivated the audience, leaving them with some exuberant performance, skillful and enchanting.

20th Feb, 2023, New Delhi: Salvatore Babones, a well-known sociologist from the United States, recently praised the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) and Nova Dairy for their premium Nova Dahi, which was a component of his meal on the Rajdhani Express. Mr. Babones, who is renowned for his work and viewpoints on the global economy, particularly those of former US president Donald Trump, recently traveled on the Rajdhani Express and praised the top-notch food and welcoming environment provided by the IRCTC.

In a Tweet posted on his official handle, Mr. Babones shared a picture of his food and the catering in-charge, Mr. Narendra Kumar. He noted in the tweet that the food’s flavor was “first-class,”, especially in light of the fact that he was traveling in second-class. He praised the quality of the food and the excellent service provided by the IRCTC. He was especially appreciative of the IRCTC’s commitment to excellent food quality and their inclusion of Nova Dahi, which he thought was of exceptional quality.

Nova Dairy takes great pride in producing premium-quality dairy products that are enjoyed by millions of people around the world. They retweeted Mr. Babones, glad he was relishing his Nova Dahi.

Nova Dairy is committed to maintaining its high standards of quality and consistency and looks forward to continuing to provide customers with the best possible dairy products.

Mumbai, February 20, 2023 — Tenable®, the Exposure Management company, today announced it has added a Cyber Insurance Report within its Tenable Vulnerability Management solution, which summarizes exposure information relevant to cyber insurance providers in an effort to streamline the policy underwriting process for both insurers and customers. The Tenable Cyber Insurance Report will enable insurers, for the first time, to measure preventive security programs by sharing vulnerability data that resides within the firewall.

Tenable has also partnered with Measured Analytics and Insurance on a referral program that provides qualifying Tenable customers with savings on cyber insurance policies. The relationship represents a new data-driven model for the cyber insurance business, with tangible savings offered to customers.

In a hard market, with premiums rising, even obtaining a cyber insurance policy is no longer guaranteed. It can also be a lengthy process for organizations seeking coverage, with labor-intensive and inefficient applications often based on lengthy, manual surveys of external risk data, which are little more than an estimate of an organization’s true cyber risk profile.

Even for companies with strong cybersecurity practices, risk-averse underwriters may scrutinize the available information and delay what should be a quick process. With Tenable’s Cyber Insurance Report, customers can share data that shows the insurance companies in black and white detail that they maintain good security hygiene along important dimensions.

“Measured was founded on the principle that not just any data can be used to underwrite cyber insurance,” said Jack Vines, co-founder, and CEO, of Measured Insurance. “By enhancing our AI-driven underwriting models with ‘inside-out’ data from Tenable and other partners, we’re able to build a holistic understanding of a client’s risk profile, which often results in savings on cyber insurance. Our integrated partner approach provides distinctive insight on risk, making all participants more secure and cyber resilient.”

Measured Analytics and Insurance offers advantaged pricing to qualified applicants who have a Tenable Vulnerability Management license and hit appropriate thresholds in their Cyber Insurance Report. Prospects could also receive additional discounts per additional licensed Tenable solution.

An Ounce of Prevention

Incident response companies have become the go-to responder for insurance providers investigating claims, but little has been done to reduce exposure by helping prevent the issue. Reducing exposure to breaches is much less expensive and predictable than responding after the fact.

The Tenable Cyber Insurance Report provides a way for customers to quickly assess their exposure management proficiency. Reliable metrics that show how well prepared a company is to prevent a breach, rather than simply responding to one, are vastly preferable in the risk assessment process insurers have traditionally struggled with.

“Most of the focus to date on assessing cyber risk for cyber insurance policies has been on whether a company has an adequate breach detection and response capability. But incident response means something has already gone wrong,” said Ray Komar, vice president of technical alliances, at Tenable. “There’s never been a way for insurers to measure preventive security, until now.”

Tenable’s Cyber Insurance Report is free and automatically available within customers’ Tenable Vulnerability Management accounts. Cyber insurance policies with Measured are available for qualifying customers in the U.S. only. Tenable will continue to work with insurance partners to further refine data sources and reporting as part of the ongoing program.

To learn more about Tenable Vulnerability Management and its Cyber Insurance Report, visit: https://www.tenable.com/cyber-insurance

Delhi, February 20th, 2023: upGrad, also known as Asia’s largest higher EdTech Company is set to launch 8 new Offline Experience Centres (OEC) in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana to accelerate its regional penetration in FY24. With 6 existing touchpoints already, upGrad has recorded a 400% increase in counselling sessions during previous January to this year.

“We understand that learning preferences across metros and non-metros, especially tier 3 or beyond are non-identical. Hence, we constantly upgrade our outreach techniques to ensure we scale our reach and that every person we connect with is aware of our product to be able to make an informed learning choice. AP & Telangana remain the two most important business-ready regions for us and hence, it is even more critical for us to track the constantly evolving learning patterns and develop market-ready products for higher growth,” said Jeetender Singh, Head of Offline Sales – India, at upGrad.

Commenting on the business, Mayank Kumar, Co-founder & MD, upGrad said, “While the internet has made inroads to most locations today, it still does limit the genuinity of the information shared. Therefore, with these zero-cost counselling sessions, we want to empower India’s youth and every household with easily available information while accelerating trust for a positive output. We are confident that with new Centres coming up in AP/Telangana in FY24, we will not just record higher business milestones, but shall also introduce wider employment opportunities across the two key states.”

With 35+ PAN India Centres operating, the brand has the most centres in West India followed by South India and an international presence in Nepal. These Centres have dedicated and skilled counsellors/coaches to guide visitors, potential learners and their families through the market trends, explain to them how upskilling could add another layer of expertise, and also address certain other academic and non-academic queries. Moreover, owing to the rapid growth momentum, upGrad had also expanded its office presence across AP & Telangana during FY23, thereby taking the total team strength to 300+ in just two regions.

image.gifWith a sharp jump from INR 147.02 Cr of annual revenue in 2021 to INR 298 Cr in 2022, Komaki Group, one of the fastest evolving brands in the electric vehicle landscape of India, achieved more than 100 percent revenue growth this calendar year. The leadership team of Komaki Group attributes the company’s phenomenal performance to investment in R&D, especially in the battery division. As per their claim, the sale of Komaki’s EV bikes and scooters witnessed a massive uptick after the launch of the LiFePO4 battery, now embedded in most of Komaki’s high-speed two-wheelers.

During the same period, Komaki Group’s profit also doubled from INR 1.51 Cr to INR 3.25 Cr. Now, to create a robust EV charging infrastructure in the country, Komaki has set a target to invest Rs 75 Cr in installing 45,000 charging points across pan-India by December 2023. This will go a long way in contributing towards India meeting its ambitious non-fossil fuels target by 2030.

During Financial Year 2021-22, Komaki registered a staggering growth rate of 560 percent, with annual revenue of Rs 22.92 crore in 2021 to Rs 147.02 in 2022. Now, with another sharp rise in the annual revenue, the company has registered an overall growth rate of 1200 percent within 20 months of its inception. Notably, the exemplary growth of Komaki is completely organic, without any dependency on government subsidy and without any bank loans or funding from any financial institutions. This has also placed Komaki among one of the few startups in the clean energy sector which is running into profit consistently.

On the company’s staggering growth and future plans, Gunjan Malhotra, Director of Komaki Electric Vehicle Division, said, “Komaki, in just four years of existence, has earned a great reputation in the market and financially too the company is experiencing rapid top-line as well as bottom-line growth without any external funding. The brand has established a strong network of 380+ dealership stores all over the country. We offer the widest range of electric 2-wheelers, with 10 CMVR-exempt models and 8 high-speed registration models. Besides, we are working on the application of advanced technologies to manufacture the best-in-the-market batteries for our EVs. Our fireproof LIPO4 batteries are ensuring extra safety to our EVs and getting an overwhelming market response.”

Komaki has a state-of-the-art manufacturing plant spanning over two acres with offices and warehouses in Delhi / NCR.“Komaki is leveraging the best of the technologies available in the market to manufacture advanced electric vehicles and bolsters its market presence. We are constantly focused on revamping our batteries to make our vehicles safer. Further, soon Komaki will be making all its EV models registered high-speed vehicles. With the application of technologies, we are also installing TFT displays in our vehicles, and many exciting new features are in line to be launched,” added Malhotra.

By Suren Goyal, Partner, RPS Group.

The real estate market in India is once again on the rise. These are encouraging signs following a pandemic in which any kind of recovery was unexpected. It would not be incorrect to predict that 2023 is going to be a pleasant year for real estate. Presently, more buyers are interested in investing in Coworking spaces. More purchasing will occur in metropolitan and mid-level cities in 2023.

What began unpredictably a few years ago as a hybrid of a business center, a shared office, and a cafe has evolved into its own entity with a distinct identity. Today, coworking spaces can be found in any city where people can – or must – work independently. There are now over a thousand coworking spaces in cities all over the world. Although most new coworking spaces will receive a lot of interest from potential customers at first, not all will fill up. Co-working spaces are experiencing unprecedented demand. The Occupancy rates at coworking spaces have now shot up to 90-100%, compared with 45-60% a year ago.

Coworking spaces in India are already in high demand following the global epidemic. The implementation of the hybrid prototype is driving businesses to seek out flexible spaces, which is creating new business opportunities in the sector. Businesses are starting to recognize the significance of a smart working space because it stimulates new approaches to work and tends to increase efficiency. As they embrace the co-working space culture, the young generation of entrepreneurs, linked by Multinational enterprises and other mid-sized organizations, are re-shaping the sector.

Co-working spaces are already becoming extremely relevant in the post-pandemic era, not only for business owners and freelancers, but as well as for big organizations. Companies nowadays are acknowledging hybrid-work culture co-working spaces because they offer location versatility, simplified contractual arrangements, and an easy entry-exit alternative. In the middle of such a change in demand, such spaces perfectly blend in.

Coworking will continue to reside since it appeals to both small and large businesses. Co-working spaces can profit all businesses due to their being cost-effective, convenient, and expandable. Entrepreneurs are now considering flexible workspaces to be a wise investment because it enables them to concentrate on their activities and expansions while trimming frivolous spending. Demand for coworking spaces has already nearly doubled from post-Covid-19 levels and is expected to skyrocket in the coming years.

SEQRITE, a leading global enterprise cybersecurity solutions provider, shared its predictions for the cybersecurity space in 2023 and beyond. As per the cybersecurity solutions firm, the use of Android malware will rise this year, as threat actors gradually move past screen-sharing applications to execute attacks. Zero-day attacks make up a significant portion of cyberattacks encountered by enterprises. It has been reported that 30% of all malware attacks are zero-day exploits. Cloud service providers kept providing their products, allowing clients to easily and quickly construct applications. Since they cannot be installed on test equipment or reverse-engineered, these services are comparatively safe. However, as more businesses rely on cloud services, they become more open to malicious assaults. The Cosmos DB and Apache Log4J critical vulnerabilities of 2021 served as a reminder of the seriousness of these problems. Our forecast came true in 2022 when zero-days hit even more systems, including Apple iOS, Atlassian Confluence, Chromium, Google Pixel, Linux, WebKit, and Windows.

Such types of cybersecurity flaws are sought after by cybercriminals who deploy them to execute commands impersonating well-known systems. They might get access to and steal password-protected information, act like another user, or conduct denial-of-service attacks. For instance, a system flaw in cloud storage may provide access to data that would otherwise be protected.

The threat of zero-day threats will not diminish. In the ongoing struggle against cybersecurity threats, it is crucial to defend against all aspects of the vulnerability.

Pune, February 20, 2023: SBI Mutual Fund announced the launch of the SBI Dividend Yield Fund, an open-ended equity scheme investing predominantly in a well-diversified portfolio of equity and equity-related instruments of dividend-yielding companies. The new fund offer would open on February 20, 2023, and close on March 6, 2023. The first-tier benchmark of the fund is the NIFTY 500 TRI.

The investment objective of the scheme is to provide investors with opportunities for capital appreciation and/or dividend distribution by investing predominantly in a well-diversified portfolio of equity and equity-related instruments of dividend-yielding companies. This is proposed to be achieved by investing in businesses across market capitalization, being style agnostic with no sector bias, with attractive dividend yields plus potential growth in dividends, and aiming to achieve an aggregate dividend yield that is at least 50% higher than that of the Nifty 50 Index. The scheme will consider dividend-paying stocks that have paid dividends or repurchased shares in at least one of the previous three fiscal years.

Mr. Shamsher Singh, MD & CEO, of SBI Mutual Fund, said, “I am happy to announce the launch of SBI Dividend Yield Fund, an offering which provides investors a diversified mix of high and growing dividend yield companies. As the largest fund house in the country, we continue to add to our bouquet of offerings, and we believe this category has an opportunity to grow and find merit in investors’ portfolios.”

Mr. D P Singh, Deputy MD and Chief Business Officer, SBI Mutual Fund, said, “High Dividend Yield companies are generally thought of only from the angle of providing regular income, but many of them are strong growth-oriented businesses across market cap with the potential of long-term wealth creation. SBI Dividend Yield Fund presents an opportunity for those looking to invest in such strong businesses with steady cash flows for long term. Those who invest in direct equity, investors wanting long-term wealth creation, and even first-time mutual fund investors will find this fund suitable. Investors who want regular income can use the SWP (A) facility offered in this fund to plan regular tax-efficient cash flows’’.

Investors may opt for a tax-efficient way to receive regular cashflows by registering for SWP (A) Facility (subject to terms & conditions mentioned in the Scheme Information Document) which attracts capital gains as applicable for equity-oriented mutual funds. SWP (A) Facility is a customized facility offered to SBI Mutual Fund investors seeking regular cash flows in a quite simple and tax-efficient manner from their investments. All one has to do is select to withdraw a fixed % of their cost of investment or any specified amount to meet their regular cashflow needs from the various options available (monthly, quarterly, half-yearly, and yearly). SWP (A) facility can be opted for both in Growth and IDCW while the remaining corpus continues to earn returns.

The minimum application amount is Rs. 5,000 and in multiples of Rs. 1 thereafter. The scheme would invest between 65% – 100% of its assets in equity and equity-related instruments of dividend-yielding companies (including equity derivatives), up to 35% in other equity and equity-related instruments, up to 35% in debt securities (including securitized debt and debt derivatives) and up to 10% in units issued by REITs and InvITs. The scheme may seek investment opportunities in foreign securities including ADR/GDR/Foreign equity and overseas ETFs and debt securities subject to regulations that may not exceed 35% of the net assets of the scheme.

Mr. Rohit Shimpi, CFA, will be the fund manager of this scheme with Mr. Mohit Jain the dedicated fund manager for overseas securities. Rohit currently manages the SBI Magnum Equity ESG Fund and the equity portion of SBI Retirement Benefits Fund.