Mumbai-based talent vetting company Shortlist has raised $2 Mn (INR 14.2 Cr) in Series A funding led by Blue Haven Ventures, along with participation from Zephyr Acorn, Compass Venture Capital, Potencia Ventures, and others.

The company plans to use the funds to expand outreach to job seekers, improve its algorithmic matching, and expand geographically.

Founded in 2016 by Simon Desjardins, Paul Breloff and Matt Schnuck, Shortlist screens candidates using predictive chat-based interviews and online competency-based assessments. The company boasts of clients such as Ather Energy, Dunzo, ITC Ltd, DHL, and Toppr, UberEATS.

Paul Breloff, cofounder and CEO, Shortlist, said, “We’re focused on finding the right measure of tech-powered scale and human-driven curation to build the best teams, with a focus on quality over quantity. This round and our new partners will help us accelerate our efforts to get employers to ditch the CV in favour of more predictive measures of fit.”

With its offices in Nairobi, Palo Alto, Hyderabad and Mumbai, Shortlist combines technology and human touch to understand job-seekers’ skills, attitude, and motivation, fueling better hiring outcomes for employers across East Africa and India. It claims to have screened over 400K candidates for over 300 clients.

Prior to this round, the company raised $1 Mn (INR 7.1 Cr) seed capital from AHL Venture Partners, Shell Foundation, and University Ventures in September 2017.

Shortlist’s products suite includes a chatbot, online skills-based assessments and helps companies automate the recruitment process and collect more robust data on candidate skills and fit. Shortlist also offers executive search, HR advisory and training services.

Lauren Cochran, managing director at Blue Haven Ventures said, “Hiring high-quality people in emerging markets takes too much time and slows teams down. Shortlist delivers a best-in-class solution to the human capital challenge from entry and mid-level hires to senior level executive search.”

The company plans to expand its footprint within and beyond East Africa in 2019.

Indian startups have been increasingly experimenting with the human resources process as well and implementing new age technologies like artificial intelligence to improve and ease out the efficiency in the job market and hiring process.

The Indian HRTech industry is estimated to be worth $6.29 Bn (INR 40,000 Cr). In 2017, nearly $2 Bn was invested in HRTech companies globally.

In the HRTech space, we have startups like Y Combinator graduate Leena AI, AI and machine learning startups Bash and Skillate, along with EdGE Networks, PeopleStrong, Darwinbox among others.

According to Inc42’s Annual Tech Startup Funding Report 2018, enterprisetech was the second top-sector for fundings in 2018 with 118 funding deals worth $775 Mn.

The post Talent Technology Startup Shortlist Raises $2 Mn In Series A Funding appeared first on Inc42 Media.

Paytm’s ecommerce arm, Paytm Mall, has made a significant restructuring of its top-and mid-level management team, as the company aims to strengthen its daily operations, marketing and verticals.

As part of the reshuffle, Paytm Payments Bank chief financial officer (CFO) Sudhanshu Jain will now lead the ecommerce business as the financial comptroller, Alibaba Group senior director Bharti Balakrishnan and Paytm vice-president Varun Gupta will lead its shopping categories. The company also appointed Srinivas Mothey to lead the marketplace’s marketing as a chief marketing officer.

Paytm launched Paytm Payments Bank in November 2017, with Jain as its CFO. He was in charge of the bank’s financial and regulatory management functions, including expansion plans. Jain was previously working with ICICI Bank as the head of borrowings. He has around 16 years of experience across Internal Audit, Finance and Borrowings roles.

The company has appointed Balakrishnan to lead the online marketplace’s unstructured categories such as fashion, home and kitchen. He joined Alibaba in June 2016 from services marketplace LocalOye where he worked as a chief business officer. Gupta, on the other hand, will lead Paytm Mall’s groceries vertical. According to sources, he will continue his role as Paytm’s vice-president.

Meanwhile, Saurabh Vashishtha and Amit Bagaria who had been working as the company’s senior vice presidents have reportedly quit Paytm Mall, ET reported citing company executives.

The executives restructuring may as well help Paytm Mall to rise from the declining sales amid growing competition, as the company’s CEO Vijay Shekhar Sharma recently announced company’s goal to grow 50% to double the GMV to $2 Bn by the fiscal year ending March 2019. He also expects that his newly launched wholesale entity will add up to 15% GMV in Paytm Mall’s total revenue in 2019.

The company has been under pressure as its ecommerce market share declined from 5.6% in 2017 to 3% in 2018 according to reports.

The post Paytm Mall Rejigs Management Amid Declining Sales appeared first on Inc42 Media.

As the Gujarat government plans on introducing a policy to promote the use of electric vehicles (EV), the state energy department has reportedly said it will give incentives to taxi service providers who use EVs in their fleets.

“The government may give some incentives to them (taxi providers) to promote the use of EVs,” a TOI report said, citing Gujarat energy minister Saurabh Patel. Cab aggregators Ola and Uber did not comment on Inc42’s query.

The Gujarat government is likely to elaborate on the details of incentives it has announced once the state government introduces the EV policy. Patel said that the policy will be launched soon, with a focus on developing an infrastructure network for battery swapping, charging facilities and other supporting regulations.

An earlier report suggests that many EV companies have approached the government for starting EV projects in the state. Tata Motors has proposed investing INR 1600-2000 Cr ($224 Mn – $281 Mn) to manufacture EVs in the state. The company is already manufacturing its Tigor EVs at Sanand in Ahmedabad district of Gujarat.

Joining the country’s EV movement, Karnataka is the first Indian state to have launched the state EV policy in 2017. In February 2018, Maharashtra launched its own state policy, followed by the Uttar Pradesh government launching the EV draft in March. In the same month, Andhra Pradesh also announced its plan to launch a comprehensive EV policy. The governments of Goa and Delhi have also shown commitment to replacing diesel- and petrol-fuelled vehicles with EVs.

Telangana launched its EV policy in June 2018.

Meanwhile, the India government has delayed the second phase of Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Hybrid and Electric Vehicles (FAME II) as the first phase has received an extension till March 2019. The scheme envisages providing incentives for all categories of EVs, along with setting up of charging infrastructure, etc.

WIth the supportive EV policy, the sales of electric vehicles are estimated to more than double to around 2 Lakh units in 2020, opines India’s nodal body representing EV manufacturers, the Society of Manufacturers of Electric Vehicles (SMEV).

The post EV Taxis To Get Incentives, Policy On The Cards: Gujarat Energy Minister appeared first on Inc42 Media.

This article on the top sectors of India is an extract of Inc42’s recently-released Indian Tech Startup Funding Report 2018, which provides a detailed analysis of the funding trends, VC funds analysis, and mergers and acquisitions (M&As) in the Indian startup ecosystem for the period 2014-2018. To read more articles on this report, click here.

In the tech startup world, the growth and performance of any sector are largely measured by the funding trends observed in the sector. For long, ecommerce and fintech have ruled the world of startups in India in one way or another and continue to do so. However, the other slots in the Top 5 keep fluctuating, giving other sectors their seasons in the sun.

As expected, in Inc42 DataLabs’ recently-released Indian Tech Startup Funding Report 2018, fintech took the top spot once again, garnering the maximum number of deals. Of the $11 Bn raised across 743 deals in 2018, fintech startups raked in $1.4 Bn across 121 deals.

This is comparatively lesser than 2017 when fintech startups brought in $3.01 Bn across 111 deals. However, the increase in the number of deals indicates a positive sentiment among investors towards the opportunity in the Indian fintech segment, expected to touch $2.4 Bn by 2020.

The second spot was taken by enterprisetech with 118 deals. This is more than a 50% rise as compared to 70 deals in 2017. Enterprisetech was followed by ecommerce (94 deals), consumer services (81 deals) and healthtech (69 deals).

Ecommerce took the top spot in terms of total funding, raising $2.1 Bn in 2018. Interestingly, traveltech even surpassed enterprisetech in terms of the total funding amount raised in 2018, thereby taking the fourth spot after ecommerce, consumer services, and fintech.

Rise Of Fintech

According to Inc42 Datalabs’ Indian Tech Startup Ecosystem Report 2018, there are currently 2,707 fintech startups in the ecosystem.

Apart from gaining the trust of VCs and corporates, the sector has also been getting support from universities, research institutes, and government regulatory bodies such as the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI).

Also, increasing smartphone and internet penetration, efforts to boost the Digital India campaign through moves such as tax rebates for traders accepting more than 50% payments electronically, and steps taken to improve the P2P lending scenario have been acting as growth levers for this sector.

It is expected that at this pace, India’s digital payments space is set to touch $700 Bn by 2022.

The Ecommerce Mystery

After the 2016 funding winter, the ecommerce sector has become fraught with uncertainty. Both the number of deals and the funding amount continue to fluctuate. While in 2017, the bulk of ecommerce funding was concentrated amid the top-notch players of the industry, widening the gap between early and bridge-stage funding, the scenario was reversed in 2018.

Inc42 DataLabs observed a surge of 331.91% in the average ticket size of seed-stage investments, while late and growth-stage deals fell significantly in comparison to 2018.

While Flipkart’s historic $16 Bn exit through US retail giant Walmart’s acquisition-fuelled investors’ aspirations, the entry of B2B ecommerce startup Udaan in the unicorn club within 26 months of its launch revived lost hope in the sector for startups.

With the Indian government working to resolve pending issues around the ecommerce policy, FDI in ecommerce, FDI in multi-store retail, private labels, and discounting, among others, it is expected that the sector will bring in more exits for investors and will tune out from loss-making towards profit-led business models this year.

In the year ahead, we look forward to sectors such as deeptech, traveltech, healthtech, edtech, media and entertainment picking up. This year many Indian startups also took a leap in the international markets. The most prominent here were OYO and BYJU’S. Plus, the growth of over the top (OTT) players and speculations around the entry of Spotify in India is expected to give the further boost to media and entertainment industry.

In the coming year, it is expected that all these sectors will further pick up investors interest and will open up global opportunities for the startups.

Liked what you read so far? We have a lot more insights and data in our full report, which covers funding trends in Tier I, Tier II, Tier III cities, across 14 industries and sectors segregated by the funding stage. It also has details on average ticket size, investor types, and a lot more, for the period of 2018.

The post Fintech Nabs Top Spot In 2018, Ecommerce Continues To Be A Mystery appeared first on Inc42 Media.

With a couple of days left to the February 1 deadline for the rollout of the government’s new FDI policy for ecommerce, dominant online marketplaces, Flipkart and Amazon, have reportedly told their exclusive partners across brands of mobiles, electronics etc, that they will be to able to  operate as they do now, with some changes in their agreements.

A media report citing senior industry executives said that the companies have told their exclusive partners that even though they won’t be able to mandate exclusivity, the business will run as usual as the brands can still choose to be exclusive to them, as they are free to adopt their channel and sales strategy.

The changes in the pacts being discussed means that the brands will make it clear that they are exclusive to the platform as part of their sales strategy and the marketplace has no role in it.

For this, Flipkart has reportedly replaced the phrase “#Only on Flipkart” for the exclusive brands or products prominently displayed on its marketplace with “#Just Here”. Along the same lines, Amazon has reportedly started to minimise the “Amazon Exclusive” tag displayed for the exclusive brands or models on its marketplace.

It is to be noted that brands such as BPL, TCL’s iFFalcon, Blaupunkt TV, Sanyo, Thomson, Asus and Meizu operate only online in India through Amazon or Flipkart. While other brands and companies like Samsung, Xiaomi, Realme, Honor, Huawei, Onida, TCL, OnePlus and Vu have either launched online-exclusive models or are largely dependent on ecommerce.

On December 26, the government notified changes in business for large online marketplaces with changes in FDI policy for ecommerce, which has caused an overhaul of business processes for the companies. Beyond exclusivity, the notification also prohibited marketplaces from making more than 25% of purchases of a vendor.

Flipkart has reportedly informed exclusive partners that it will appoint multiple sellers for these brands instead of one, as is done now, to comply with the 25% clause. Flipkart executives will also distance themselves from the planning of sales strategy for these brands.

Along the same lines, Amazon has already started such a process where it distances itself from any sales promotion planning of the brands and it is now handled by the seller team.

The legal loopholes these companies have found show that the fears of traders’ associations, domestic companies etc of the large companies working around these FDI norms are albeit true even as the companies seek an extension of the deadline.

[The development was reported by ET.]

The post FDI Ecommerce Circular: Business As Usual With Tweaked Pacts Say Flipkart, Amazon To Sellers appeared first on Inc42 Media.

Bengaluru-based learning platform for software developers, Crio.Do, has raised $1 Mn (INR 7.12 Cr) in a seed funding round led by Flipkart cofounder Binny Bansal. In the round, Flipkart employees turned entrepreneurs, also popularly known as the Flipkart Mafia, came forward to support one of their own as well.

The ex-Flipsters who participated in the funding include B2B ecommerce company Udaan’s founders, Amod Malviya, Vaibhav Gupta and Sujeet Kumar; Udhyam Learning founder Mekin Maheshwari and ex-Flipkart CRO Ravi Garikipati.

Crio reportedly plans to use the funds to build its product and scale the team, as it looks to add more modules to serve a wider base of technology skills.

Founded in 2018 by ex-Flipster Rathinamurthy R and ex-Googler Sridher Jeyachandran, Crio.Do provides “work-like” micro-experiences curated from industry with real-world problems, solution landscape and environment optimized for learning.

In simpler words, Crio teaches software developers with projects from the bigger organisations. It provides personalised and adaptive learning opportunities for developers and enables tech organisations to nurture talent.

Some of its customers include Visa, Capillary and Flipkart. “There is an increasing need for qualified tech talent which is a global problem and a huge market opportunity. Crio has an exceptional team and their approach towards solving this problem is unique, backed with practical insights and experience,” Bansal reportedly said.

In the India Skills Report 2018, it was found that the percentage of employable resources between the 18-25 years of age stood at 46% and 26% between the age group of 26-29. Even though the hiring scenario for 2018 looks “positive”, hiring and employability has continued to be a major cause of worry for corporates, students as well as colleges.

Some of the complaints from the end of companies are that students aren’t usually ready for the work environment and the company cannot waste its resources to train those who switch very early. The cost of recruitment has been continuously rising, as one in four graduates leave their job within two years.

Technology software has been at the crux of rising innovation in the country’s startup ecosystem, and as Crio.Do enables software developers to learn and innovate under the mentors, the talent pool of the Indian IT/ITES industry is expected to achieve a revenue target of $350 Bn by 2025.

[The development was reported by ET.]

The post Binny Bansal, Flipkart Mafia Lead $1 Mn Seed Funding In Crio appeared first on Inc42 Media.

Noida-headquartered digital payments company Paytm has strengthened its travel business with the acquisition of Noida-based last-minute hotel booking app, NightStay for an undisclosed amount.

The confirmation of acquisition comes nearly six months after reports surfaced that Paytm may acquire NightStay for $20 Mn (INR 142 Cr).

After the acquisition, NightStay founder Nasr Khan will lead the hotel-booking services at Paytm.

NightStay: Why It Aligns With Paytm?

Founded by Nasr Khan in December 2014, NightStay offers hotels an open and flexible option to provide flash accessibility on its app. Hoteliers can make their inventories available on the NightStay app, which is available from 12:00 noon till 12:00 midnight, and increase their footfall while maintaining their brand identity.

The startup is present in cities such as Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Goa, Chennai, and Hyderabad. It raised a $500K funding in August 2015 from BedRock Ventures and angel investors Rajesh Sawhney of GSF and Shailesh Vickram Singh, a partner at SeedFund.

What’s Next For Paytm And NightStay?

Paytm started its travel business in 2014 and claims to sell over 60 Mn tickets a year across rail, bus and flight bookings.

To scale up its travel plans Paytm plans to invest $70 Mn (INR 500 Cr) and has partnered with more than 5,000 hotels across the budget, luxury and business segments. Its hotel partners include chains like Sarovar, Zuri, Treebo, Indian Hotels Co’s Ginger, Sterling and VResorts.

The company said it aims to reach 2 Mn hotels, with 50 Mn rooms within the first 18 months, and become Asia’s top hotel-booking platform by 2020.

“We want to offer the broadest travel selection on our platform, and look forward to continuing our expansion with the help of our trusted travel partners,” said Madhur Deora, chief financial officer at Paytm.

The company also claimed that customers could access more than 50K daily room nights in the hotel space on its platform and that it would work closely with partner hotels to build technology-driven solutions.

In FY18,  Paytm recorded sale of 38 Mn travel tickets on its platform. Paytm is aiming at 2x growth in ticketing volumes by end of FY19, with a target of becoming a dominant player in the online travel booking space.

The company has recorded a massive surge in bookings and claims to be emerging IRCTC’s largest reseller of train tickets, the second largest player for bus tickets, and among the top three sellers of flight tickets.

The company is in the middle of an expansion run across its verticals, which includes events and ticketing as well. With an annual run rate of 5 Bn transactions and $50 Bn in gross transaction value (GTV), Paytm has been fighting hard against players like MakeMyTrip and Yatra to dominate the Indian travel industry, which is expected to be worth $48 Bn by 2020.

The post Paytm Expands Its Travel Biz With Acquisition Of NightStay appeared first on Inc42 Media.

One of the most frequently used incentives to make consumers buy a product or a service is credit. It takes several forms, it can be a ‘pay later’  loan or  ‘zero down’ equal monthly installment loan.

While loans help the consumer who doesn’t have a lump sum in hand to make a purchase, an equally compelling product that provides the same benefit is goal-directed savings.

A well designed goal-directed savings product can not only be more beneficial for the consumer, but it can also draw a lot more consumers to purchase a product or service.

Loans, while available in several forms and from a multitude of providers, are not available to everyone. An essential requirement to have access to loan is a good credit score. A credit score is a number that indicates the likelihood of the borrower repaying the loan. For obvious reasons, lenders check the credit score carefully before deciding to offer a loan.

The process for granting a loan usually works like this (simplified):

• Lender checks borrower’s CIBIL score if they have one
• The borrower submits evidence of regular paycheck. These are usually bank statements that show evidence of regular deposits or pay slips
• Lender determines the eligibility of the borrower using their risk models and sanctions a certain loan amount at a certain interest rate

But what determines a good credit score? Here-in lies a problem, and an opportunity.

While the organised financial instruments in India are rapidly expanding and ever greater number of people now have access to banking and loans, obtaining a good credit score is nearly always dependent on having a regular, predictable, income.

The process becomes a lot harder when the borrower has an income stream that is not regular.

What Is Irregular Income And Why Does It Matter?

Let’s consider two individuals, One who makes a regular income of INR 1000/ week (for approximately INR 4K/month) and another who on an average makes INR 5K in a month. But this earner does not get an income every single month. She might get INR 3K some months, INR 6K- INR 8K other months and zero in some down months. The average, however, is INR 5K/month.

The first person with a regular income is in a vastly superior position to avail of loans. The regular income, even if in an unorganized sector, serves as a powerful signal for creditworthiness. The second person, despite having a larger average income, will typically need to move to unorganized sources for loans – money lenders or family/friends’ network. Such a source will be at a significantly higher cost to the borrower.

The reason from the standpoint of a bank is understandable; the ability to repay a loan is directly dependent on future reliable income streams (for non-asset backed loans). And a history of regular incomes is a lot easier for a bank to use as indicative of future income potential, which in turn reduces the loan risk.

Banks like predictable patterns. Irregular income streams do not provide any such pattern and hence are considered high risk.

Irregular incomes are fairly commonplace in the lower end of the economic pyramid. An independent shopkeeper who sells certain kinds of items that have high seasonality would have irregular income. Contract daily wage earners, such as construction workers, who get projects for a few months with periods of unemployment before the beginning of the next project begins are another. In fact, in the unorganized sector, regular incomes might very well be the exception than the rule.

An irregular income is easy to spot – the bank statements of the borrower will not show similar deposit amounts coming in at regular intervals.

So how can some with irregular incomes get access to lump sum cash to make purchases?

The answer is goal-directed or special purpose savings.

Loans and savings are more similar than one might think. A loan consists of a getting a lump sum amount upfront and then the consumer paying for it in smaller installments spaced out over time. Directed savings consist of making small installment savings spaced out over time and then get a lump sum at the end of it.  In both cases, a lump sum amount is available for use.

Loan provides lump sum amount before  installment based repayment

Savings provide lump sum amount after installment based savings

In goal-directed savings, the consumer puts away savings in bite-sized amounts at regular intervals. This might be difficult during periods of low income but helps in creating a habit of regular savings. When the desired level of savings is achieved, she is able to purchase high-ticket goods and services.

Savings Bank Vs Goal-Directed Savings

Don’t regular savings accounts in banks provide this feature already? Yes, but not really. Savings bank accounts suffer from low usage in these cases for a number of reasons:

• Complexity and costs: The process of opening and operating such accounts is complex and expensive with minimum balance requirements, different service levels, assorted fees etc.
• Generic, not use case driven: Savings accounts are also too generic, and not tailored to specific use cases of consumers. The money set aside for a mobile phone purchase, school fees and healthcare needs is all pooled into one undifferentiated sum. Saving regularly is difficult for most people.  And without clear visibility towards how much progress they have made towards their saving target, it becomes even more difficult. Goal-directed savings help here.
• Low returns: Savings accounts offer low interest rates, but goal directed savings can provide a significantly higher return on savings by passing on discounts from ecosystem service providers to the consumer

Combining a friction-less savings instrument, with an ecosystem tie up for specific use cases to motivate savings, can make for a compelling savings instrument.

Predictable and convenient access to lump sum amounts is key to financial security. Goal-directed savings is the most direct, effective and inclusive way to obtain access to such amounts – its a product whose time has come.

The post Goal-Directed Savings: A Financial Product Hiding In Plain Sight appeared first on Inc42 Media.

As concerns over Angel Tax continue to haunt startups, policy think tank, iSPIRT Foundation and online citizen engagement platform have listed out a set of recommendations to the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) to bring clarity to the situation.

“Angel tax issue is a clear and present danger for startups and this has to be resolved by removing the startups from the purview of the Sections 56(2)(viib) and Section 68,” Nakul Saxena, director of public policy at iSPIRT, in a written statement told Inc42.

Saxena who has worked closely with the central government and many state governments on their startup policies said that the measures implemented to solve the angel tax issue till now are “heartening” but it is still a partial solution to a larger problem.

“The CBDT needs to solve for the basic reason behind the cause of Angel Tax Section 56(2)(viib) to be able to give a complete long-term solution to Indian Startups,” Saxena added.

In their letter issued today (January 30), iSPIRT and LocalCircles have listed the following recommendations to DIPP:

• Startups registered with DIPP to be removed from the purview of Section 56(2)(viib) and Section 68
• Section 56(2)(viib) should not apply to any investment below INR 10 Cr received by a startup per year or increase the share premium limit to INR 25 Cr, from Indian investors provided that the startup has the PAN of the investors
• Funds received by startups from entities with a minimum income of INR 20 lakh or a net worth of at least INR 1 Cr should be exempt from section 56(2)(viib) and section 68 as a class of people notified by the central government
• Any startup who has received an assessment order should be able to seek recourse under this circular during their appeal
• The registrations by entities to invest in startups should be done once a year
• Entities cover investments by individuals, corporates and trusts not exempt under Section 56(2)(viib)

While Section 56(2)(viib) deals with the valuations and whether the funding is an income or investment. On the other hand, Section 68 of the Income Tax Act deals with unexplained credit.

Meanwhile, the Indian Private Equity and Venture Capital Association (IVCA) is conducting a survey to find out the total number of startups impacted by the Angel tax. According to IVCA, there is a “lack of clarity” in the number of startups who have been served tax notices in the past year. The association said that it would be working closely with LocalCircles to carry-out the survey.

The association hopes to share the data with the regulators and policymakers in the upcoming meeting with the DIPP scheduled on February 4.  The association said to post all the questions by today (January 30) and expects to present a scorecard in a matter of few days.

IVCA, iSPIRT, LocalCircles along with associations in the startup ecosystem such as NASSCOM, TiE, Indian Angel Network (IAN) have also written multiple letters to the DIPP, raising concern over the most-debated Angel Tax.

Update 1 (30 January, 12:44 pm IST) Post publishing this news, we got following response from IVCA:

“We realised that nobody has a clue about the exact number of angel tax notices served to the startups. Once we have consolidated data, we will be able to figure out the quantum along with the magnitude of the problem faced by the startups. We believe that by presenting this number, everyone can present a strong case pertaining to the exemption of angel tax.”

Update 2 (30 January, 1:55 pm IST) Post publishing this news, we got following response from LocalCircles founder Sachin Taparia:

“At this junction, getting rid of Section 56(2)(viib) and Section 68 for DIPP registered startups is the best way forward. DIPP already has API-integration capability which can be deployed to identify these startups in CBDT systems, so that, any time when a notice is generated by the Income Tax systems under these sections, they are auto nullified.”

The post iSPIRT, LocalCircles Submit Angel Tax Recommendations To DIPP appeared first on Inc42 Media.

Around 75 women entrepreneurs have graduated from the third edition of the Women Entrepreneurship Development Program (WEDP) conducted by Walmart India. The announcement of the completion of the programme was announced in January 2019.

The WEDP 3.0 was launched in October 2018 in a bid to enhance the skills and capacities of women entrepreneurs. This edition saw participation from women entrepreneurs working across both product and service sectors.

According to the company, about 40 women-owned businesses (WOBs) received training in classrooms while the remaining 35 WOBs participated through virtual sessions.

In a bid to encourage the women entrepreneurs of the country, Walmart introduced the Women Entrepreneurship Development Program in 2016 to offer training curriculum to the women entrepreneurs to help them grow their businesses.  

According to the company, over the three editions, the programme has helped nearly 150 women entrepreneurs directly. The first edition of the programme saw participation from 32 women-owned businesses who came from Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. Later, in 2017, about 61 women-owned businesses had graduated from the second edition of the programme.

“Walmart is deeply committed to women’s economic empowerment and this year, we harnessed the power of technology to reach even more women entrepreneurs,” said Krish Iyer, Walmart India president and CEO.

WEDP 3.0: Encouraging Women Entrepreneurs

The WEDP 3.0 cohort represented both product categories — such as edible cutlery, eco-friendly stationery and gift items, apparel, herbal cosmetics, spices, processed food, tea, and nutrition bars — as well as services such as AI consultancy, energy efficient solutions, travel management solutions, and research and insights.

Supported by Walmart, WEConnect International led the overall coordination and conceptualisation of the programme, selection, and assessment of participants while the Entrepreneurship Development Institute of India (EDII) customised the training curriculum and imparted the training.

As part of this initiative, the participant women entrepreneurs underwent a planned capacity building training for three months. The mentoring sessions were tailored to suit the requirements of their businesses.

The programme included training of participants across various modules including marketing, finance, business strategy, operations, legal and compliance, and social networking.

It also included a visit to the Best Price Modern Wholesale Stores owned and operated by Walmart India aimed at providing the WOBs added insights into the format and store operations.  

Women Entrepreneurship: Other Initiatives Taken

In September 2011, Walmart launched the Global Women’s Economic Empowerment (WEE) initiative, a five-year programme, to use its unique size and scale to improve the lives of underserved women around the world.

As part of the initiative, Walmart committed to sourcing $20 Bn from women for its US business and double sourcing from WOBs internationally. While the commitment has concluded, it continues to source from the WOBs.

Apart from Walmart, many other platforms are working to encourage women entrepreneurs in the country. This month, Mumbai-based POWERED Accelerator also announced nine women participating in the second cohort of its accelerator programme which is aimed at helping them develop their businesses.

The post 75 Women Entrepreneurs Graduate Under Walmart India’s WEDP appeared first on Inc42 Media.

Budget 2019 comes at a critical point of time when there is a lot of investment activity happening in the startup industry, fueled by interest from both domestic as well as international investors.

This is also validated with the recent IMF data on World Economic Outlook which pegs India to grow 7.3% in FY19 and 7.4% in FY20, which is more than India’s FY18 growth rate of 6.7% and China’s forecast of 6.6% in FY18 and 6.2% in FY19. All of this is supported by structural reform and a favourable demographic dividend leading to domestic demand-led pickup.

Further, all this growth comes amidst a volatile global landscape with uncertainty in the fuel market, escalating trade war, impending Brexit, tightening financial conditions, and higher interest rates. Thus, as committed by our Finance Minister, we expect that the interim budget will not be a populist one in the backdrop of upcoming General Elections.

Strong Focus On Ecommerce Retail Logistics Required

To leverage the strong global position of India, there should be a strong focus on the ecommerce retail logistics.  The government has already demonstrated its support to the segment by granting logistics an infrastructure status. Now, ecommerce retail logistics should also be made a key part of our National Policy.

Similarly, the startups within this emerging sector should be included as a part of policy-making through focused groups, advisory bodies and other forms of interaction/inclusion.

Relaxing Threshold Of Startup India Certification

Ecommerce Policy is a welcome measure, but a lot needs to be seen on the implementation front including it being passed as legislation. In continuation to above, there is a scope for relaxing thresholds of Startup India certification with the objective to sufficiently cover the startup ecosystem.

This will provide a level playing field while competing with larger players including MNCs. Further, there should be a mechanism like a minimum allocation to ensure that small business (including startups)receive a fair share in government procurements.

Reduction In GST Rates

On the GST front, the government should reduce GST rates, allow full GST credit, provide tax exemptions to small players, further relax timelines and frequency of GST returns, and simplify return filing procedures.

Further, there is a need to clarify certain ambiguities in the law, for instance with respect to the liability of a registered dealer for GST not deposited or filed by its vendor.

The procedure for GST credits and refunds should be simplified and fastened as it adversely impacts the cash flows of small assessees.

Direct Taxation Front Should Be Boosted

On the direct taxation front, we expect some tax holidays or sops for the logistics and ecommerce sector. The government should reduce the domestic corporate taxation rates, especially for smaller companies including startups.

While recently CBDT has directed taxmen to withdraw select appeals by the end of January ’19, there is a lot that needs to be done to end tax terrorism in India. For instance, the process of assessments, enquiries, appeals, and notices must be completely automated, made time-bound, and should be delinked with the name and contact credentials of assessees. While some of these measures are a part of an ongoing government project, its implementation and timing hold the key.

Demolition Of Angel Tax

Angel taxation should be abolished for startups upon production of requisite documents. It, along with Section 56 of Income Tax Act, 1961, has dampened the investor sentiment. It has made seed funding difficult for young entrepreneurs who can fuel the economy by producing jobs as well as tech-driven efficiencies across all spheres of life.

In Conclusion

Startup ecosystem can play a pivotal role in India’s growth story with an all-embracing approach (including social), with so many investors and startups targeting the rural market, solving their problems, empowering them, and making them a part of the mainstream economy.

The government has been very supportive on this front until now with relaxations in Angel tax (INR 10 Cr exemption) and a forthcoming roundtable on February 4, 2019. Thus, we are hopeful that the government will give due consideration to the voice of the startup and the investor community.

Easy availability of financing for small businesses is another key requirement. The non-conventional channels of funding like digital lending, NBFCs, and P2Plending should be encouraged. This can be done by making adequate room in the central bank’s fiscal and monetary policy.

Further, there is a need to relax regulations, for instance, thresholds of Rs.10 lakh on P2P lending. Instead of limiting the business opportunity, regulators must rather focus on more innovative solutions like prescribed capital ratios, capital reserves, stringent KYC norms, an effective and separate legal framework for fast and effective disposal of defaults, and so on.

Other measures enabling startups can be like Special Insurance scheme for the sector such as the one envisaged for GST dealers.

Today, India is at a very crucial juncture of its growth journey. So, it is not only important to make the right decisions, but these decisions also have to be taken swiftly to ensure that our nation’s growth pans out well in the globally volatile situation. We believe both the bureaucracy and the government are well aware and will take the right steps in this direction. The rest will become apparent on February 1 as the iconic leather briefcase arrives in the parliament. Let’s keep our fingers crossed.

The post Ecommerce Retail Logistics: What The Ecosystem Expects From Budget 2019 appeared first on Inc42 Media.

Health, as they say, is wealth. This is true of individuals as well as nations. It is all the more relevant in a country like India, which ranks 145th among 195 countries in terms of quality and accessibility of healthcare, according to a Lancet study. It is behind its neighbours China, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka.

The good news is that the Indian healthcare market is set to grow at a 22% CAGR to reach $372 Bn by 2022, a threefold rise since 2016.

We didn’t need any iteration, but this projection is telling of the untapped healthcare market potential in India. While a slew of healthtech and epharma startups have emerged in the last few years and changing the face of Indian healthcare by bringing healthcare and pharmacy services to people’s homes, their effect and implications have been largely limited to cities only — Tier 1, to be precise.

This is mainly due to the fact that healthcare infrastructure, particularly in rural India, is extremely poor. Rural India lacks even primary healthcare facilities, making it hard for healthtech startups to penetrate these areas.

Saurabh Agarwal, chief financial officer (CFO) of epharma startup Medlife, expects Budget 2019 to address these infrastructural issues in healthcare. “The Budget should support the expansion of digital healthcare. E-healthcare players have great potential to make healthcare more affordable and accessible by using technology to provide doctor consultations, ensure medicine availability and diagnostic services in every nook and corner of the country including the remotest locations,” he said.

Agarwal is spot on. Interestingly, and ironically, 74% of the doctors in India are in cities while only 26% are available in rural India. However, according to the last census (2011), 69% of the Indian population still lives in rural India.

Hence, India’s existing average doctor-to-patient ratio — 1:1700 — against 1:400 as prescribed by the WHO, is actually flawed. The actual ratio in rural India is way wider.

Further, many healthtech startups who hire doctors for consulting purposes told Inc42 that there is a dearth of real doctors in India, as many practising doctors are not qualified doctors. They either don’t have the degree or have fake degrees. This has been another issue for the startups to tackle.

Health insurance is another market with huge potential as 73% of Indians are still not covered. Addressing the gap, the Modi government last year launched the world’s largest public health insurance scheme — Ayushman Bharat.

In 2017, the government had also launched the National Health Policy, which aims to double the government spend — from 1.15 % of the GDP to 2.5% by 2025. However, the budgetary allocation of INR 52,800 Cr for health in 2018-19 was hardly 5% higher than that of 2017/18 (INR 50,079.6 Cr).

Prashant Tandon, CEO and cofounder of epharmacy startup 1mg Technologies, shares his expectations on Budget 2019 with Inc42: “While there must not be any negative surprises, the focus should be on healthcare with a clear articulation of enabling private participation. This requires a quicker regulatory response to encourage innovation and a clear mechanism of developing business models that are sustainable for all players.” The healthtech fraternity are also batting for a medical innovation fund.

As the general election 2019 nears, healthtech as well as epharma startups expect the government to announce some quick-fix solutions as well as some long-term policy-related announcements in the Interim Budget 2019. And here’s what they want from the Budget:

Allocate More Funds, Create Medical Innovation Fund

While healthtech startups welcome the huge step towards health insurance inclusion — Ayushman Bharat — they have been demanding improvement of basic infrastructure which would help them penetrate deeper into Tier 2 and 3 cities as well as villages. Given the exponential rate at which the internet base is expanding and touching more and more lives, the time, certainly, is opportune.

However, the fund allocated to Ayushman Bharat, which looks to provide the health insurance of over 50 Cr of Indians, is merely INR 2000 Cr and has been criticised by many as inadequate.

Varun Gera, founder and CEO of healthcare aggregator platform HealthAssure, said, “With Budget 2019, we would like to see the government walking the talk by increasing expenditure of health and implementing a ground plan for the allocation of funds for announced projects, including the National Health Programme, Mental Health Act, and National Health Policy.”

Agreeing that Budget 2019 should be aimed towards making healthcare better, affordable, and accessible to the common people, Agarwal said he was expecting more health-related policy announcements in Budget 2019. “The focused life coverage and personal accident coverage through the banking sector, along with initiation of Ayushman Bharat for hospitalisation, is the need of the common man. It is definitely a step in the right direction…we are thereby looking forward to enhanced coverage of health protection scheme to build a robust OPD healthcare environment in the country.”

Besides, Nivesh Khandelwal, founder and CEO of LetsMD, which provides medical loans for surgeries in India said,

The government should also come up with a separate medical innovation fund to boost healthtech startups.

The idea of creating the Medical Innovation Fund has been applauded by many. Anand Subra, chief knowledge officer at mobile health service provider PurpleTeal, explained, “Entrepreneurship can be nurtured by spending on incubating new businesses, providing access to business, tech and commercialisation experts, as well as shared facilities, infrastructure, and staffing services on a rental basis. The Budget can certainly devote some funds to enable entrepreneurs to focus on building their businesses rather than getting bogged down in day-to-day operations.”

There should be a one-stop shop supportive ecosystem for new innovative models, new ventures and new technologies, opined Tandon. Specifically, “Digital health (epharmacy, telemedicine, IOT, diagnostics, AI-based decision support), AI, drones etc need to be developed with an intent to lead the world,” he added.

Address Healthcare Inflation Issues

We noted a clear urban-rural divide in the Indian healthcare index, which is another cause for concern. The per-person cost increase due to medical inflation is rising at double the overall inflation rate, according to a report by Mercer Marsh Benefits.

This means outpatient costs are increasing at a faster pace than hospitalisation costs. And that the government needs to bring medical inflation in check.

Khandelwal, said, “India’s healthcare inflation is about 15-17%, so, every year, the medical cost escalates by 15-17%. Second, insurance penetration in India is negligible — 80% of India’s healthcare expenditure is out of pocket. And, 50% of that out-of-pocket expenditure is financed through loans. So, a lot of work has to go to into the preventive healthcare side, to make healthcare affordable in the long run in India.”

Provide Tax Exemption And Incentives

Considering that healthtech and epharma startups have to walk the extra mile due to the lack of healthcare infrastructure and policies (in the case of epharmacy), this Budget, one of their major demands is tax rebates and incentives.

Siddharth Upadhyaya, founding partner chief strategy officer of OurHealthMate told Inc42, “As a digital/startup community, we look forward to tax breaks to enhancing the appeal of the segment so its comes across as a major employer of the educated masses.”

They also expect the Budget to announce additional benefits for those opting for cashless transactions through debit cards, mobile wallets and credit cards, he added.

Reiterating his views, Pradeep Dadha, founder and CEO of epharma startup Netmeds (.com), said, “Incentivising electronic payment modes via tax rebates will encourage both the consumer as well the company to move towards the collective goal of Digital India.”

According to Dadha, removal or relaxation of angel tax to encourage angel investments in Indian startups will provide a much-needed push to the startup ecosystem. Considering an increase in the current revenue bracket during the Tax Holiday period as well as an extended tax break would help startups stabilise during its early years.

Khandelwal, said, “The health sector demands incentives for setting up hospitals in smaller towns and cities and that is the primary demand the industry has from this year’s Budget. There should be easy loans available for creating viable healthcare infrastructure in smaller towns and cities. Also, the priority sector status must be accorded to the healthcare industry.”

Tandon is of the opinion that digital health platforms should be given the status of “healthcare service provider” in the tax code, with identical incentives/ tax implications as physical establishments.

Allow FDI And Introduce Policy, Say Epharma Startups

Healthcare apart, Indian epharma startups have been busy in fighting a number of cases across the country due to the lack of a dedicated policy for the epharma sector.

While the Madras High Court recently lifted the ban from companies selling medicines/drugs online, the Delhi High Court upheld it. Agarwal said, “While there should be relaxation in FDI in epharmacy, recognition of epharmacy under the Drugs & Cosmetics Act is something that the government must look into.”

On FDI, Dadha too is of the same opinion.

With the impending change in the new FDI policy in ecommerce sector, we expect FDI relaxation in the epharma sector as well, he said.

Agarwal added that the GST rate on medicines should be relaxed; according to him, a majority of medicines fall in the 12% bucket.

Tandon of 1mg also demanded a clear policy for inviting FDI in sectors like ecommerce and retail, especially in cases where supply chains need massive investment to be organised and domestic manufacturing contributes to the bulk of the industry, which includes local handicrafts, local handloom/ customer designed apparel and jewellery, food processing & pharmaceuticals.

Budget 2019: Why Healthcare Should Be Prioritised

Besides the populist reason that this is the general election season and healthcare touches the majority of lives in a country, and the above-mentioned demands, there are, in fact, more reasons for the government to increase the budgetary allocation for healthcare.

Take mental health illnesses as example. According to Neerja Birla, founder and chairperson of mobile platform Mpower which addresses mental health issues, most developed countries allocate around 4% of the healthcare budget for mental health, but in India, it’s only around 0.4%.

“We need to take effective measures immediately, else the rising mental health issues will not only adversely affect the quality of life but will also impact the economy, explained Birla. By 2030, the losses to the GDP due to mental health illnesses (lowered productivity, inability to work, absenteeism, etc) will be in the trillions of rupees. “We need to support and supercharge the impact of the positive steps (the Mental Healthcare Act 2017) taken so far with the required funding so that we can actually implement changes, build infrastructure, and make mental healthcare accessible and affordable to every Indian,” she said.

Healthcare, education, and agriculture are the three sectors that touch every Indian life. A number of startups are already disrupting these sectors to come up with innovative solutions to pressing problems. They have made huge progress in terms of both funding and impact.

However, healthcare is a basic need, and it is a billion needs that need to be fulfilled in India. Meeting these needs requires the government’s intervention and special attention in the Budget so the way for healthtech and epharma startups can be paved further.

The post Budget 2019: Healthtech, Epharma Startups Demand A New Medical Innovation Fund appeared first on Inc42 Media.

As the Gurugram-based hospitality unicorn, OYO plans to expand its presence in the international market, it has recently announced a commitment of $50 Mn (INR 355.7 Cr) to further develop its business in the Philippines.

The company forayed in its eighth international market with more than 21 franchised and leased hotels and is currently present across Metro Manila, Tagaytay and Cebu.

Along with the investment, the company is also aimed at expanding its presence across 10 cities by 2020. It is also aiming to generate over 1K direct and indirect employment opportunities.

“With the current 21 hotels, 500 rooms we aim to grow to 20K rooms in 10 cities by 2020 while becoming a household name for both local and international travelers visiting the country. Our growth in the country will be fueled by strong local leadership and a team of young hospitality enthusiasts,” said Abhinav Sinha, chief operating officer (COO) of OYO Hotels and Homes.

OYO: Strengthing Its Position On International Front

OYO, which was founded by Ritesh Agarwal in 2013, also recently announced its plans to establish its footprint in 100 cities across Indonesia by the end of 2019. These initiatives show the company’s aggressiveness to capture the Southeast Asian hospitality market.

The hospitality giant which is backed by some of the popular investors including  SoftBank Group, Greenoaks Capital, Sequoia India, Lightspeed India, and Hero Enterprise, has already established a strong presence across China, Nepal, UK, UAE, Indonesia, Malaysia and Dubai. Currently, it has over 13K hotels and 3,000 homes listed on its platform.

According to the company, with its foray into the Philippines, many job opportunities across sector such as housekeeping, front office, F&B, general management, civil engineering, data science, hospitality operations and technology will be generated.

This announcement comes in after recent reports said that the company had been listing hotels in the country with a major focus in Manila. Sinha added that with OYO’s technology expertise is empowering the hotel owners across the Southeast Asian market to improve the customer experience while maintaining efficiencies, high occupancy, and yields.

In order to drive its growth in the international markets, the company also recently appointed Sam Shih as its chief operating officer (COO) in China, Tan Ming Luk as its country head in Malaysia and Andrew Verbitsky as the head for Europe operations.

Other Segments Explored By OYO

In a bid to grow its business, the hospitality company is also looking to foray into different sectors. In 2018, the company acquired service apartment operator Novascotia Boutique Homes, IoT (Internet of Things) technology company AblePlus and online marketplace for wedding venues and vendors,  Weddingz.

As the company is set to capture the international market to develop its business, speculations are also rife that it is looking to enter the coworking space in India. A recent ET report claimed that OYO is in advanced talks to acquire coworking space provider Innov8 for about $28.09 Mn (INR 200 Cr) cash deal. In response to Inc42’s queries. However, OYO termed this is pure speculation.

“This is baseless speculation. We are currently focused on our core business and looking at strengthening and deepening our presence in our home markets, India and China while expanding our footprints across the globe, all with the goal of delivering high-quality experiences,” OYO spokesperson said in a statement.

The post OYO Commits $50 Mn To Expand Footprint Across Philippines appeared first on Inc42 Media.

The Better India, an online impact company from Bengaluru, has raised 25 Cr ($3.5 Mn) in Series A funding led by venture capital firm Elevar Equity, as the company aims to scale up its ecommerce vertical. This round also saw the participation from the Rise Fund managed by TPG Growth.

The husband-wife duo, Dhimant Parekh and Anuradha Kedia, launched The Better India as an online blog in 2008. The founders registered the company in January 2015 as an online media company, highlighting social and environmental issues, especially faced by the micro, small & medium enterprises (MSME). Four months back, The Better India forayed into the ecommerce vertical.

“We see a huge opportunity to leverage our MSME community who make great products but they lack access to consumers market. We decided to experiment by featuring their products and allowing the community to buy as well, and bring revenue for them,” Parekh told Inc42.

The startup’s ecommerce vertical is currently at development phase, however, it is accepting orders from cities such as Bengaluru, Mumbai and Delhi. The platform currently has over 1,500 products with 150 MSME vendor on board, the founder claimed.

“We plan on catering to the PAN-India MSMEs and deliver their products to consumers from every corner of the country,” Parekh said, adding that it will take a monetisation percentage from every product sold from the platform.

He, however, said that it’s too early for the startup to determine the monetisation percentage, revenue, etc, as the company’s commerce vertical is in a very early stage.

“The idea is to use the power of content to build a community, mobilise the community for various social causes,” Parekh said.

The startup claims that over 50 Mn readers have been visiting its platform on a monthly basis. It caters its content across three languages — English, Hindi and Malayalam. With the recently raised funds, it aims to expand its 50-member team in the editorial and marketing departments.

India is home to an estimated 5.7 Mn MSMEs as on December 13, 2018, that were registered on the Udyog Aadhaar (UA) portal. In a bid to uplift the sector, Microsoft recently launched a similar online ecommerce platform, named weave.in, as part of the company’s philanthropic initiative, Project ReWeave.

The platform sells an array of handloom products created by the weaver communities of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. The company also provides these communities with computer design training in their digital empowerment centres.

On the other hand, large ecommerce corporates such as Amazon India and Flipkart are also betting big on the country’s MSME sector. While Amazon India added handloom and handicraft items of Weavesmart, an online government handloom store, on its platform, Flipkart’s Myntra has partnered with the Textile Ministry and launched ‘Navibhu’, a private label handloom brand.

The post The Better India Raise $3.5 Mn In Series A Funding, Launches Ecommerce Unit appeared first on Inc42 Media.

Biker gear maker AptEner Mechatronics, a Bengaluru startup that has designed a wearable cooler which can be retrofit onto helmets for bikers, has raised $1.4 Mn (INR 10 Cr) Series A funding led by venture capital firms Inventus India and KITVEN. The company plans on utilising the funds to launch its products in the market, and also expand across geographies.

The two-year-old startup creates a range of motorcycle gear under the brand name ‘BluArmor,’ aimed at providing comfort and safety to the two-wheeler riders. it wants to become a one-stop bike accessory brand that encompasses all biking needs, with features such as air-conditioning climatic control retrofit for helmets having Bluetooth connectivity, improved vision system.

It has launched its first product, a wearable cooler, named BluSnap, that fits on an existing full-face motorcycle helmet, blocks dust, cools the insides of the helmet by up to 15 degrees, and is fitted with a rechargeable lithium-ion battery.

The startup has filed for the patents for BluSnap in India, the US,  and under the Patent Cooperation Treaty, an international patent law treaty which gives protection to the technology in over 100 countries.

The startup claims to have sold about 5,000 units of the first generation BluSnap, priced at INR 2,299 in India as well as countries such as South America, Paraguay, Indonesia, Colombia, Chile, the US, Mexico, Thailand, Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia, and Australia.

The second generation of this unit — with upgraded features in terms of weight, size and performance — is expected to hit the Indian market in the next four weeks.

The IoT and Hardware startup, AptEner Mechatronics sells its products through its online website. In India, they have partnered with helmet manufacturer Vega, as a master reseller and also lists its products on Amazon and Flipkart. For the international market, they sell their products through distributors.

“We have an aggressive roadmap in terms of the accessories we want to build for the two-wheeler riders. Part of the funding is going to go towards the roadmap development, and part of it for marketing the generation two and other accessories, and also for international expansion,” AptEner Mechatronics founder PK Sundararajan told Inc42.

The post Bike Gear Maker AptEner Mechatronics Raises $1.4 Mn In Series A Round appeared first on Inc42 Media.

Just two days before the union budget, the customs duty on electric vehicle components which are imported in a knocked-down or semi knocked down state, have been reduced to 10%-15%, according to the notification issued by the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs which came into effect from today (January 30, 2019).

Prior to this, around 15% to 30% was charged as import duties on electric vehicle components. This reduction of the taxes is aimed at encouraging global automobile companies to assemble electric vehicles in India.

The notification, which was issued on January 29, 2019, said that 10% of import duty will be levied on a knocked down kit which contains necessary components such as disassembled battery pack, motor, motor controller, charger, power control unit, energy monitor contractor, brake system, and electric compressor, which are not mounted on chassis. About 15% of import duty will be levied on the pre-assembled kit.

Citing government sources, an ET report claimed that a 25% import duty will be levied on completely built electric vehicles while a 100% duty will be charged on petrol and diesel run vehicles.

However, the notification also said that customs on Lithium-ion battery packs for mobiles phones have been increased to 20%, double than the current rate.

This announcement comes in after recent reports stated that government-appointed panel which led by cabinet secretary Pradeep Kumar Sinha had proposed lower basic customs duty on the components along with lower GST rates.

In a bid to adapt the electric vehicles, the panel had also proposed different registration rates, exemption from road tax and parking charges for the users.

Though the central government is yet to finalise the electric vehicle policy, it has been reported that it may approve INR 5,500 Cr ($772.7 Mn) outlay for the second phase of the Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Hybrid and Electric Vehicles (FAME) scheme before March end.

According to reports, as a part of the  EV policy, the government is looking to use the GeM (the government e-marketplace) platform to aggregate all vehicle orders from government departments to enable bulk procurement.

In order to achieve the goal of increasing the number of electric vehicles to 30% of electric vehicles among the new vehicles by 2030, the Centre will also be focusing on the deployment of electric buses on the Indian roads as a part of the FAME II scheme. As a part of the FAME II scheme, the government also plans to install about 300 electric vehicle charging stations along the Indian highway by end of 2019.

This month, the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs had released new guidelines directing the residential and commercial buildings to allot about 20% of their parking space for electric vehicle charging infrastructure.

The post Govt Reduces Import Duties On Electric Vehicle Parts appeared first on Inc42 Media.

“Finding a mentor means looking for your future self with more experience.”

This headline from a Forbes August 2018 article aptly describes the role a mentor plays in the entrepreneurial journey of a startup founder or a wannapreneur. However, with India leading the global charts as the third-largest startup ecosystem — with more than 39K startups and a million more eyes dreaming of their own ventures — finding the right mentor to help start and scale a company is no easy task.

There are platforms like LinkedIn, AngelList, and Meetup that enable entrepreneurs to connect and build links with industry professionals. But the process is broken and time-consuming and there is no guarantee of ‘if and when’ the other person will respond to the shared queries.

Ranchi-based Simran Chhabra faced a similar issue while she was working with Gurugram-based recruitment solution provider Beam Commerce. “I was looking for an alliance with Flipkart but did not know whom to reach out to. I connected with a couple of category managers but that did not help. Reaching out to the right person became a big problem,” she says.

This incident gave her the idea to start Colangels, a startup that facilitates mentor connect, recruitment solutions for startups, and crowdfunding and investment opportunities — all on one platform. She roped in family and friends, including cousin sister Shruti Kaur, Shruti’s husband Aman Singh, and Aman’s friend Prateek Lamechwal. Together, they launched the beta version of the platform in July 2018.

Currently bootstrapped, this Bengaluru and Gurugram-based tech platform has a team of 60. Within just over six months of its launch, it boasts 10K users seeking advice from a network of more than 100 mentors, including Quikr CEO Pranay Chulet, Paytm founder Vijay Shekhar Sharma, and GoQii CEO Vishal Gondal. In the field of recruitment, it provides solutions to clients such as Alibaba, Instamojo, ShopX, Chaayos, Urban Ladder, MilkBasket.

Colangels is exploring two segments mainly — recruitment and mentor connect — but both of these are already crowded. For instance, in the money-making recruitment vertical, the competition is tough with established players such as Naukri, HackerRank, MercerMettl, WheeBox. Colangels, however, is offering mentoring opportunities for free at present and is yet to build a monetisation model around it.

So, how does the startup plan to create a differentiation as well as build a sustainable business model to continue in the long run? Inc42 connected with the founding team of Colangels last week to understand this.

Bridging The Gap Between Entrepreneurs And Mentors

Kaur defines Colangels as, “COLlaborate with COmpanies and COLleges in a way so that they GEL with each other for mutual growth and end up becoming an ‘Angel’ for the startup community.”

Simply put, the Colangels founders’ mission is to foster a number of verticals for startups to connect with mentors and investors for angel and crowdfunding investments. On one hand, these connections often open up funding opportunities for startups.

On the other hand, mentors get to learn about exciting technologies, ideas, and efficient teams, which they can make use of in their own ventures. Or they can take advantage of a being first mover and get an equity stake in the promising startups at an early stage.

The startup also facilitates other services such as aggregating coworking spaces, finding potential interns, professional networking, and crowdfunding campaigns. “Colangels can help students with their internships and getting placed in startups where they can showcase their talent and grow exponentially,” adds Chhabra.

How It Works

The user simply has to register on the Colangels platform to connect with mentors. Each profile created on the platform goes through a five-level verification process wherein information such as the idea, team, market size, scalability of the idea, and the revenue model of the startup are verified. This is done so the users can get precisely filtered options of the mentors — termed as “Angels” — that are relevant to their requirements.

Singh explains that users “earn” 150 Angels when they register on the platform, 100 Angels on completing the entire profile, and 25 Angels when they send recommendations to their connections.

“You burn Angels when you try to do an Alliance and when you connect with a Mentor or an Investor. And the burn of Angels while connecting to a featured mentor or investor is high, so we advise startup founders to use their Angels wisely,” he adds.

From the options thrown up by the engine, the user can send elevator pitches to mentors and investors. In order to avoid flooding of inboxes, each user gets a set number of “Angels” (mentors) based on his/her profile whom they can reach out to. Typically, responses are received within 48 hours.

A Startup With Its Heart In The Right Place

Chhabra says that initially, it was difficult for the team to secure time slots with industry experts (CEOs/CXOs, etc) who could be potential mentors on the platform. “But, once we helped them understand the model and the difference the platform can bring in the startup ecosystem, most of them agreed to be a part of it,” she adds.

Today, the startup is going strong. One of the feathers in its cap is an association with the Jharkhand government through which it is helping boost the startup ecosystem of the state. Colangels is also raising funds through a crowdfunding campaign called ‘Voice of Slum’, through which it will help more than 100 slum children across the country get an education and impart the skills to make them employable and give them a better chance at life.

“In the coming months, we will be organising crowdfunding campaigns for social startups as well that have a clear monetisation model in place,” says Chhabra.

With Bengaluru, Delhi/NCR, and Mumbai being the major traction-generating cities, Colangels is also looking to reach a user base of 1 Mn by the end of 2020. Further, the team plans to expand across international borders in mid-2019 starting with Southeast Asia. “That’s when we will take Indian talent from Tier 1 colleges to SEA for internships and full-time placements as there is a massive increase in demand for Indian talent,” added Singh.

Will Colangels Be Able To Succeed?

According to Forrester research, around 65% of the startups that raised funding between 2014-2017 were looking for hiring partners, alliances, and mentor connect. As mentioned earlier, there exist gaps in the startup recruitment and mentor connect segment. With its personalised approach, Colangels can certainly make a difference in enabling startup founders to connect with mentors and the right employees at the right stage of growth.

The business model seems quite difficult to monetise even in the long run considering how price sensitive the Indian audience is. Plus, Colangels doesn’t guarantee that the mentors will answer all of a user’s queries, so there is always the possibility that some questions may go unanswered, creating trust issues for the user.

However, Colangels already has a monetisation model in place with its recruitment solutions and boasts a good list of clients. This can create enough traction for the startup and bring in revenues for it to sustain its efforts in the space of mentor connect.

Also, the fact that Colangels’ recruitment solutions are not specific to a particular segment, with the focus being on startup staffing needs in general, gives the startup the scope to create a much larger portfolio due to the high attrition rates faced by early to growth-stage companies.

The road ahead may be a bit rocky for Colangels, but then entrepreneurship is a tough game altogether. And as Kaur rightly says,

“You will grow automatically if people around you grow.”

The post For Startups Looking To Hire Or Connect With Mentors, Colangels Is Playing A Ministering Angel appeared first on Inc42 Media.

Just about every tech executive is now considering blockchain technology and its use in their industry. Blockchain’s ability to enable secure and efficient transactions has caught the attention of both multi-national corporations and governments.

However, despite many proof-of-concepts and identified use cases, we are still to see rapid adoption of the technology by enterprises. So what gives?

Weighing in on the slow uptake of blockchain, Matrix Partners India MD, Avnish Bajaj, opined  that while there are elements of the technology that he truly believes in, but in India its a “solution looking for a problem.”

A self-confessed ‘products person’, Bajaj said  at a discussion held at the Common Room, Delhi, that “Its (blockchain) is a platform that needs to be sold in the enterprise way. That is a very long sale cycle. I think it will play out over a long period of time.”

(Matrix Partners has an investment in a Mumbai-based blockchain company called Elemential.)

This could be one of the underlying reasons for blockchain’s slow integration into mainstream businesses. In fact according to a December, 2018 forecast by the consultancy company Capgemini, the technology will only be suitable for mass application by 2025, especially in the area of digital supply chains.

With that here are the latest developments in the blockchain world this week:

11 Big Indian Banks To Launch Blockchain-Linked Funding Network

A group of 11 big banks will reportedly launch India’s first blockchain linked funding for small and medium enterprises (SMEs), a move which may bring about a drastic change to lending practices.

A consortium called the Blockchain Infrastructure Company (BIC) is mediating this discussion between the participating banks, which include ICICI Bank, State Bank of India, Kotak Mahindra Bank, HDFC Bank, Axis Bank, RBL Bank, an ET report said.

Through this network, banks will be able to access public credit data and assess risk. It will also make the lending process transparent.

Fujitsu Tests Blockchain Solution To For Electricity-Sharing System

Japanese IT major, Fujitsu, has partnered with a power distribution company ENERES to use blockchain to make a power sharing system, through a process known as Demand Response (DR).

DR is a scheme in which electric utilities and consumers of electricity cooperate to control the amount of electricity used during periods of expected peak demand. Using a blockchain-based solution has demonstrably improved efficiencies, Fujitsu said in a press release.

Italian Postal Service Joins Hyperledger Blockchain Community

The Italian postal service provider, Poste Italiane, has joined the Hyperledger blockchain community.

Poste Italiane said in a press release that the decision to join Hyperledger is because  blockchain technology is “an effective response to the problems of security, transparency, interoperability and privacy.”

American courier delivery services giant FedEx joined hyperledger in September 2018.

Banking Service Swift Ties-up With R3

Swift, the financial messaging service for the world’s biggest banks, is partnering with blockchain start-up R3.

“We are announcing later today a proof-of-concept with the R3 blockchain on trade where you can initiate a payment on the trade platform and then it goes into GPI,” Gottfried Leibbrandt, Swift’s chief executive, said at a CNBC-moderated panel session at the Paris Fintech Forum on Wednesday.

Founded in 2014, R3 leads a consortium of major financial institutions and is aimed at bridging the gap between blockchain technology and the banking industry.

The post Blockchain This Week: A VC Weighs In On Blockchain, Indian Banks Unite And More appeared first on Inc42 Media.

It is one of the marvels of human innovation but artificial intelligence (AI) offers tough competition to us. The days of speculating rain and sunshine may soon fade with artificial intelligence’s capability to predict right conditions with precision to an extent. It comprises one of the basic aspects of precision agriculture (PA) promoted even by the government to boost productivity and in turn, farmers’ income.

AI-based sowing advisories lead to 30% higher yields as Microsoft, in collaboration with ICRISAT, developed an AI Sowing App powered by Microsoft Cortana Intelligence Suite including Machine Learning and Power BI. The app sends sowing advisories to participating farmers on the optimal date to sow without them installing any sensors in their fields or any additional cost; all they need is a phone capable of receiving text messages.

The performance of AI on the fields has prompted NITI Aayog, to start a pilot project on precision agriculture using AI in 10 districts from seven states: Assam, Bihar, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, and Uttar Pradesh.

Moisture Adequacy Index (MAI) May Bring Significant Change

The AI mechanism calculated the crop-sowing period by gathering and analysing the historic climate data spanning over 30 years, from 1986 to 2015 and decided a Moisture Adequacy Index (MAI) to determine the optimal sowing period. MAI is the standardised measure used for assessing the degree of adequacy of rainfall and soil moisture to meet the potential water requirement of crops.

The daily rainfall recorded and reported helped to calculate the real-time MAI while the future MAI is calculated from weather forecasting models which are downscaled to build predictability and guide farmers to pick the ideal sowing week.

The International Crop Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), a non-profit, non-political organization initiates ten sowing advisories and they disseminated among the farmers until the harvesting was completed. These advisories contained essential information including the optimal sowing date, soil test-based fertilizer application, farmyard manure application, seed treatment, optimum sowing depth, and more.

In tandem with the app, a personalised village advisory dashboard provided important insights into soil health, recommended fertilizer, and seven-day weather forecasts.

This is a major shift from the traditional practices where for centuries; farmers had been using age-old methods to predict the right sowing date for crops like cotton. Mostly, they would choose to sow in early June to take advantage of the monsoon season, which typically lasts from June to August. However, the changing weather patterns in the past decade have led to unpredictable monsoons, causing poor crop yields and loss to the farmers.

Pest Attack Prediction Fosters Better Planning

Creating a pest attack prediction model again leverages AI and machine learning to indicate in advance the risk of pest attack. Common pest attacks, such as Jassids, Thrips, Whitefly, and Aphids can pose serious damage to crops and impact crop yield. To enable farmers to take preventive action, guidance on the probability of pest attacks would be helpful.

Farmers will get predictive insights on the possibility of pest infestation which will help them to plan, adopt pre-emptive measures and reduce crop loss due to pests. All this will certainly contribute to double the farm income. The measure to indicate the risk of pest attacks based on weather conditions and crop stage in addition to the sowing advisories is a help long overdue.

Shifting weather patterns including an increase in temperature, rapid changes in rain patterns and levels, and groundwater density can affect farmers; especially those who cultivate unirrigated lands and depend a lot on rains for their crops. Leveraging the cloud technology and AI to issue advisories for sowing as well as predict pest control and commodity pricing is a major move towards creating increased income for the farming community.

The post AI In Agriculture: Sowing The Seeds Of Prediction-Fostered Planning appeared first on Inc42 Media.

Ahead of February 1 deadline for changes in FDI policy for ecommerce to come into effect, the National Restaurant Association of India (NRAI) is wondering of food delivery players such as Zomato and Swiggy will also come under the purview of the ecommerce rules.

Notified on December 26, the changes in FDI policy in ecommerce prohibits large online marketplaces from selling more than 25% stock of their vendors and discourages exclusive online sales.

However, NRAI has reportedly sought clarity from the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) to understand if online food companies should comply with the guidelines, which may prohibit them from influencing prices and operating inventory-based models, including their own cloud kitchens.

The association has noted that some online food companies operate as marketplaces, others are inventory-based, and some do both. The NRAI and foodtech companies have been at loggerheads for a long time, and the restaurant lobby has already said that online food companies are making their consumers “discount addicts”.

NRAI president Rahul Singh reportedly said that as the restaurant sector comprises lakhs of small businesses run by entrepreneurs and families, their interests need to be kept in mind. The policy should provide a fair and non-discriminatory framework, he added.

DIPP guidelines allow 100% FDI in ecommerce marketplaces, but not in inventory-based models. Along the same lines, on November 18, 2018, Food Safety and Standards Authority of India, the regulator, said that ecommerce food business operators are also classified into these two categories — inventory-based and marketplaces.

Last year over 500 small to mid-sized restaurant companies petitioned the Competition Commission of India and the Prime Minister’s Office about the “misuse of dominant position” by food delivery companies including Swiggy, Zomato, UberEats and FoodPanda.

The food delivery (Zomato-Swiggy vs NRAI etc) tussle marks one more sector in which small brick-and-motor businesses have expressed discontent with the way online aggregators do business. The trend is already visible across sectors like hospitality (OYO, MakeMyTrip-GoIbibo Vs FHRAI etc), ecommerce (Flipkart-Amazon vs CAIT, CCI etc), and transport (Uber-Ola Vs drivers, high courts, state governments’ etc).

[The development was reported by ET.]

The post FDI Ecommerce Circular: Restaurant Group Wants To Know If Zomato, Swiggy Included appeared first on Inc42 Media.