Hyderabad-based digital identity solutions provider Syntizen has raised an undisclosed amount of Pre-Series A funding from global payments technology company Mastercard and biometric solutions provider ACPL.

The company plans to use the funds to strengthen its product offerings and expand its services in India and internationally. Syntizen will also reinforce its core product offerings for digital identity check, talent acquisition, and further enhancement of electronic customer onboarding platform.

Founded in 2014 by Siddharth Kukatlapalli, Vamsi Kotte, and Dinesh Desu, Syntizen offers digital identity solutions to regulated organisations and state governments in India by leveraging its proprietary Aadhaar-based solution.

Syntizen’s existing client portfolio includes Muthoot Fincorp and Manappuram Finance, Shriram Housing and Angel Broking among others. The company says that its solutions have helped its clients in introducing several industry firsts including ‘3 Minute Gold Loans’ and ‘Trade in an Hour’ services.

Ajay Sinha, MD, ACPL said, “They have already executed and deployed some of the exemplary solutions such as the one in Telangana, and there is a wide scope of business to tap the prevailing market opportunity.”

It claims to have helped in saving about INR 85 Cr annually for its state government clientele. Syntizen also offers a digital affiliation solution, which allows any institution (school/college) to get affiliation digitally from any university. The solution has been implemented at Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University, Hyderabad, making affiliations seamless for the institute.

Rajeev Kumar, senior vice president, market development, South Asia, Mastercard said, “Mastercard’s investment in Syntizen is part of the organization’s commitment to foster India’s startup ecosystem and the fintech revolution, through both partnerships and capital infusion. Syntizen has exhibited a unique ability to develop meaningful technology solutions from its industry knowledge and on-ground initiatives.”

A recent McKinsey report says that the identity management domain is growing at 20% Y-o-Y. Globally, the personal identity management (PIM) market is expected to grow at 20% CAGR and reach about $34 Bn by 2024. While the market is still nascent in India, the repeated breaches and attacks incurred by the Aadhaar system have necessitated startups such as Veri5Digital with solutions to make this data more secure.

Aadhaar might just be 12-digit number issued by the UIDAI to the residents of India, but its implications are severe in the realm of security and data  protection as it is linked to biometric data, name, permanent address, and mobile number, as well as bank accounts and other government schemes. Over 1.2 Bn Indians have got an Aadhaar ID, according to the government, so security is a major concern when in any new implementation that uses Aadhaar.

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Earlier this month, the finance ministry-constituted a steering committee on fintech led by the then department of economic affairs secretary Subhash Chandra Garg. And now its report is out in public domain. While the interministerial committee-led by Subhash Chandra Garg on cryptocurrency was hugely criticised for recommending a complete ban on cryptocurrencies in India, the industry response should be overwhelmingly positive from the blockchain point of view.

The steering committee is full of praise for blockchain technology and its applications. The report stated,

“The application of distributed ledger technology (DLT) has the potential to enhance efficiency and resilience and reduce transaction costs in a number of financial and non-financial sector applications…The transaction records are visible to all the participants of the blockchain network while being immutable at the same time.”

Comprising of major stakeholders from MeitY, MSME, UIDAI, RBI, Invest India, Banks, iSPIRT, and members from Digital Lenders Association of India (DLAI) and other organisations, however, have hardly made any recommendation to bring clarity on the policy level. Among the applications where the committee felt blockchain would make a difference are cross-border payments,  settlements of securities and trade finance.

Research and advisory company Gartner also released a report on blockchain and according to the report,

“The lack of interoperability standards will prevent pervasive blockchain deployment across financial services ecosystems for at least three years.

Fabio Chesini, senior research director at Gartner said, “Blockchain standards for financial services companies are currently fragmented and immature. We are three to five years until standards mature and settle.”

Startup Of The Week: Rejolut

Mumbai-based startup Rejolut’s product H-contract has gone live along with Hedera Hashgraph Blockchain’s mainnet on September 16. Rejolut is reportedly only Indian startup to have open access to Hedera Hashgraph’s mainnet.  The startup is already working with brands across the world like Hashing System, Hbar price, Earth ID etc.

With members including Tata Communications, IBM, Nomura Holdings and Deutsche Telekom AG, Hedera Hashgraph, a distributed public ledger platform that aims to be faster and runs at a larger scale than current blockchain technologies has so far raised $100 Mn. The valuation is now reportedly around $6 Bn.

Explaining H-contract, Sharat Chandra, President, Government Blockchain Association, India (GBA India) and advisor to Rejolut commented,

“Rejolut’s product H-contract aims to empower non-technical founders in deploying smart contracts on the Hedera Hashgraph blockchain network without writing any code.”

Mindtree Launches Blockchain-Powered Merchant Onboarding Solution

Bengaluru-based IT firm Mindtree has announced the release of its blockchain-based merchant onboarding solution for acquirer banks and payment service providers.

Mindtree’s merchant onboarding solution is developed on a Hyperledger fabric channel – which is a private distributed ledger framework for communication between members for all merchants that ensures secure and private sharing of document approval and information between all dependent stakeholders. Blockchain offers capabilities to enable transactions to be authenticated and authorised, securely and transparently. This ensures that data is transmitted within a secure network and accelerates information sharing across all parties, ensuring data is protected.

Manas Chakraborty, global head of banking, financial services and insurance for Mindtree commented, “Both acquirer banks and merchants are frustrated with the onboarding process and want more transparency, more speed, and less time and effort. our solution eliminates the need for third-party verification each time a merchant is onboarded and provides merchants with more insight into the process than ever before.”

IBM’s Call For Code 2019 Top 5 Announced

Founding Partner IBM creator David Clark Cause has announced the top five finalists for the 2019 edition of the Call for Code Global Challenge, an initiative that unites hundreds of thousands of developers to create applications powered by open source technology that can tackle some of the world’s biggest challenges.

Building on last year’s inaugural challenge, Call for Code 2019 is focused on using cutting edge technologies such as blockchain, AI, ML, big data to help mitigate the effects of natural disasters and help communities better prepare and respond to the needs of survivors, as natural disasters are a growing issue affecting every region worldwide.

According to IBM, over 180K independent and enterprise developers, data scientists, activists, and students from 165 nations took part in this year’s challenge to create more than 5K applications designed to enhance access to vital information that could help first responders and health practitioners assist survivors of natural disasters.

These five finalists chosen are AsTeR (Europe), Healios (North America), Prometeo (Europe), Rove (North America) and Sparrow Platform (Asia Pacific).

In other news, the government of Bangladesh has selected IBM as the technology partner to create a centre of excellence and help accelerate innovation and strengthen the ecosystem for emerging technologies in the country. It aims to provide the platform for enterprises, start-ups, incubators, innovators and university students to accelerate innovation, research, skills and develop solutions by leveraging the latest digital technologies including Big Data, AI and blockchain on IBM Cloud.

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With a conviction of innovation and entrepreneurship in Tier 2 cities, Microsoft India has announced the launch of “Highway to a Hundred Unicorns” programme.

Launched at an event in collaboration with the Industries Commissionerate and iNDEXTb, Government of Gujarat, the programme aims to foster the Indian startup ecosystem in the tier 2 cities.

As part of this initiative, Microsoft will engage with innovators and entrepreneurs through a series of outreach programmes across Tier 2 cities. Microsoft will work closely with state governments to strengthen the startup ecosystems in each state. The first event in  Gandhinagar today was attended by over 250 startups.

The company believes that some of the key challenges in scaling tier 2 startups’ business include lack of cutting-edge technology support and a dearth of mentorship from ecosystem players.

Lathika Pai, country head, Microsoft for Startups, said, “There is a strong pool of ideas and talent beyond the well-known startup hubs of India. Our tech expertise and experience of engaging with some of the most successful Indian startups will help innovators across the breadth of the country become enterprise-ready and scale their operations in India and globally.”

The startups attending the events will receive guidance and mentorship through technology workshops on subjects like Azure, machine learning and artificial intelligence. Identified top startups in the “Emerge 10-Gujarat” will receive Azure credits and select startups will also be invited to pitch for access to the Microsoft ScaleUp programme.

Microsoft ScaleUp programme supports seed or Series A funded B2B and select B2C tech-enabled startups to co-sell with Microsoft sales teams, get access to top tech VCs globally and receive mentorship from the startup ecosystem.

Microsoft for Startups enables startups to reach customers across the globe by leveraging the cloud marketplace, enterprise sales team and partner ecosystem. The company also launched its corporate venture fund M12 in India this year. For India, M12 has said that startups cater to a global customer base, most notably in artificial intelligence and machine learning, robotics, software as a service (SaaS), data analytics and Internet of Things (IoT). These sectors continue to be top strategic priority focus areas for Microsoft and M12 as well.

At the same time, the company believes that India offers unique competitive advantages by being home to top technical talent in the world including deeptech areas such as computer vision, robotics, blockchain and autonomous driving.

Startups in India’s smaller cities and towns have become a juggernaut of innovation in the country amassing a large amount of funding going to startups each year. Among the successful startups, the likes of Appointy in Bhopal, DeHaat in Patna, CarDekho in Jaipur are some that have made the biggest impact.

According to a report, 20% of the total startups in India are based in tier 2 and 3 cities. Today there are over 5,800 startups in tier 2 cities. And if this is not enough to raise the curiosity of the world, the total funding for these tier 2 startups in the last five years alone is $1.3 Bn (2014-Q1 2019), according to DataLabs by Inc42.

Government-enabled ‘startup policies,’ state-funded incubators and various other schemes have all played a crucial role in propelling the fledgeling startup ecosystems in India’s Tier 2 cities.

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Bengaluru-based wealth management platform Groww has raised $21.3 Mn in Series B funding round led by fintech-focussed investment firm Ribbit Capital.

“This round brings one of the best fintech investors to partner with us in addition to the already great set of partners that we have. In addition, the capital will enable us to strengthen our team to build exciting products for our users,” Lalit Keshre, cofounder and CEO of Groww, said.

The startup aims to utilise this funding to expand its workforce by hiring across functions of engineering product and growth teams. The company also plans on using this investment to enhance tech capabilities and build super scalable infrastructure for investing.

Groww was launched in April 2017 by former Flipkart employees Lalit Keshre, Harsh Jain, Neeraj Singh and Ishan Bansal. The platform makes investing in mutual funds easier for first-time investors through mobile apps and a web platform. The company claims to have over 2.5 Mn users in India, with more than 60% of these users coming from outside the top six Tier 1 cities.

In its Series A funding round, Groww had managed to raise $6.2 Mn. The round was led by Sequoia Capital and included other investors like Y Combinator, Propel Venture Partners and Kauffman Fellows participated in the round.

Meanwhile, in its Pre-Series A, the company had raised $1.6 Mn from Insignia Ventures Partners, Lightbridge Partners, Kairos, and others, with participation from investors like CureFit cofounders Mukesh Bansal, and Ankit Nagori.

Along with Ribbit Capital, this Series B funding round also raised investment from Groww’s already existing investors Sequoia Capital and Y combinator. With this investment, Ribbit Capital has proved to be one of the most active investment firms in India in 2019.

The Silicon Valley-based firm has backed insurance aggregator PolicyBazaar, digital finance company Capital Float, lending platform Razorpay and QR-code based payment app BharatPe.

Last month, it was reported that Ribbit Capital will be investing in fintech startup Cred Eyes, this year.

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The Reserve Bank Of India has reportedly asked banks and NBFCs (non-banking financial companies) to stop sharing consumer credit history with non-regulated entities, according to a media report.

The regulatory body reportedly said that such sharing of credit information is against the country’s Credit Information Companies (Regulation) Act, 2005 and may result in penalties in case of further violation. 

The banking bodies have been given 15 days by the RBI to report back on the measures taken to stop this data sharing practice. 

RBI’s order will impact digital lending startups that depend on their bank and NBFC partners to access consumer data through credit bureaus. Many such companies have based their business models on this practice, solely innovating on the technology end to ease the lending process for customers.

As per DataLabs by Inc42, the credit demand in India is projected to be worth $1.41 Tn by 2022. The estimated growth rate in credit demand is 3.73% between FY17 and FY22.

This $1.41 Tn opportunity has led to the growth of multiple lending startups in the country including LendingKart, PerkFinance, Aye Finance, ETMONEY, LazyPay, and Shubh Loans, among others. 

In addition to this, other tech companies have expressed interest in entering the lending space. In July, Digital payments unicorn Paytm partnered with NBFC Clix Finance to enable digital loans for both its customers and merchants. On the other hand, ride hailing major Ola and ecommerce platform Flipkart were reported to be co-launching credit cards, in partnership with major Indian banks.

Between 2015 and Q1 2019, the total investment in Indian fintech startups was $7.62 Bn with a total deal count of 478. Out of the total funding, 50.13% or $3.82 Bn was in payments tech startups, followed by 25.49% ($1.94 Bn) in lending tech startups, according to Datalabs by Inc42.

The prevalence of digital lending startups in India has opened new opportunities for synergies between fintech startups and established financial institutions and banks. Also, traditional financial institutions have been forthcoming in partnering with fintech startups to leverage their technology platforms and expand their customer base by tapping users of fintech products.

Startups have also registered themselves as NBFCs to bypass the middle layer. In July, Gurugram-based online used car marketplace Cars24 procured an NBFC license from the RBI to consumer lending business. Last year, Nasper’s PayU too have received approval from the RBI to operate its NBFC. PayU owns a lending company under the brand name LazyPay. 

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As ecommerce platforms are witnessing restrictions from different ministries, these emarketplaces have been raising the demands for a consolidated set of guidelines. However, the demand has been overlooked.

The commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal recently said that his ministry is working on a national ecommerce policy, which will be ready by June 2020. Moreover, the ministry of electronics and information technology (MeitY) and consumer affairs are having parallel discussions to frame another set of policies for these companies.

MeitY’s Guidelines

MeitY has set up a committee, headed by Infosys cofounder Kris Gopalakrishnan, to discuss non-personal data and is also working on a Personal Data Protection Bill 2018. Under the Personal Data Protection Bill, the government has clearly defined what are personal and sensitive data.

Personal data is any data of an individual which allows “direct or indirect identifiability”. Sensitive personal data includes financial data, biometric data, religious and political leaning, etc. The committee is also studying issues related to non-personal data, which have not been indicated in the draft bill.

Since, these ecommerce websites use to target ads and product listing, among others to attract customers, they will come under the ambit of these policies.

The Ministry Of Consumer Affair

The Ministry Of Consumer Affairs, meanwhile, is working on draft guidelines for the Consumer Protection Act, 2019, which was passed earlier this year. These guidelines will be included in the Act, after receiving feedback and suggestions from the stakeholders. Once added, these guidelines will be mandatory.

The aim of these guidelines is to prevent fraud, unfair trade practices and protecting consumer benefits and regulate ecommerce companies.

The New FDI Norms

The Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade’s (DPIIT) had implemented a new set of FDI policies on February 1 to provide a level playing field for local vendors who operate from brick-and-mortar stores and the big-budget ecommerce companies.

Under these norms, there were three main guidelines. First, the companies cannot have different agreements for the vendors in similar circumstances. Second, the companies cannot sign an exclusivity contract with any vendors. Third, foreign-funded websites cannot host products of vendors or companies in which they have a stake in.

After the implementation of these different set of guidelines, the ecommerce websites would have to reshape their business models.

The post As Govt Works On New Ecommerce Rules, Companies Demand A Consolidated Playbook appeared first on Inc42 Media.

Proptech company Square Yards has raised $20 Mn equity funding round from a clutch of investors including Bennett Coleman & Co Limited (BCCL), Genkai Capital, founders of PropertyGuru Steve Melhuish and Jani Rautiainen, Koh Boon Hwee, former chairman of Singtel and DBS along with the participation of some existing investors. 

This round brings the total equity funding raised by the Gurugram-based startup to $50 Mn. In addition to this, Square Yards has also raised around $25 Mn in debt financing. Square Yards estimates its valuation to be in the range of $260 Mn to $300 Mn.  

Going forward, the company wants to aggressively ramp up its investments in strengthening its technology infrastructure, building a go-to consumer brand, as well as expanding to newer geographies in emerging countries especially those that have a large primary residential market and fragmented distribution.  

Commenting on the investment, Masatoshi Matsu of Genkai Capital said, “Future of residential brokerage business will be data-based rather than relationship based where we feel a little worried about transparency and fairness. Square Yards is at the forefront of this tectonic shift and is creating a great system  for this innovation to happen.”

 Anil Ambani’s Reliance Group-backed Square Yards was founded by Tanuj Shori and Kanika Gupta in 2014. It is a real estate aggregation and transaction platform enabling the complete lifecycle of owning and living in a home including research, due diligence, selling, financing and more. 

 The mortgage arm of the startup, Square Capital, uses its own tech stack to make mortgages easy and convenient for home seekers with completely automated workflows that include online identity and credit verification.

Further, the Square Yards recently launched an artificial intelligence-enabled enterprise technology solution called Edge to empower the sales and distribution functions of other real estate entities like developers and large brokerage houses, in India and select international markets.

With a presence across 10 countries, Square Yards claims to be enabling annual transactions of assets worth around $1 Bn and has a revenue run rate of $44 Mn. On the mortgage side, Square Capital claimed to have disbursed over $1 Bn worth of home loans by June 2019. 

Proptech Sector In India

 The proptech sector in India is fuelled by rapid urbanisation and rural migration to cities. India has the largest number of proptech startups (77 of 179 funded proptech startups) in Asia-Pacific.

Earlier in June, NoBroker.com has raised $51 Mn Series C funding led by General Atlantic, along with the participation of BEENEXT and SAIF Partners. 

Later, Delhi-NCR based real estate marketplace Clicbrics also raised $3 Mn in a Pre-Series A funding round led by former Tiger Management Lieutenant Manny Singh of Kavi Fund; Peter Mann, fund manager at Gluskin Sheff along with a senior managing director of one a Canadian pension fund and several high profile private investors from USA and Canada.

Real estate sector in India is expected to reach a market size of $1 Tn by 2030 from $120 Bn in 2017 and contribute 13% of the country’s GDP by 2025. Some of the online players in the segment include Quikr, Square Yards, NoBroker.com etc.

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At the Google For India event today, the tech giant has launched the Google Pay for Business app, which makes it easier for merchants to get on board the digital payments bandwagon. Besides the Google Pay Business app, the company also announced a Spot platform, powered by Google Pay which helps stores and retail outlets create online stores using Google Pay APIs.

Google Pay Business makes it incredibly easy for merchants to join the UPI payments platforms through video KYC, and instant verifications through Google Duo. 

Through the Google Pay for Business app, merchants can track their income and payments history to understand how their business is progressing. 

The Spot platform will help merchants come online by creating a virtual store using Google Pay APIs. Stores can enable digital payments through Google Pay using the Spot platform and can also help customers pick up purchases at a later time. Customers can also select from a range of products at a Spot store and go about purchasing products as they would on a regular ecommerce website. 

Spot stores will be visible in the Google Pay app and can be designed, developed and hosted by the business itself. Each Spot store acts as a virtual storefront for the business. Google used the example of eat.fit during the demo on stage. 

The best part about Spot from a customer point of view is that no downloads are required of the third party app. 

Spot codes are just like QR codes, but with a more vibrant colour scheme. Spot codes also have NFC support so customers can scan Spot codes and order and pay, return for pickups, without physically opening the Google Pay app.

Further, Spot codes can be added on packaging by retail partners to enable upselling, boost retention and create a stronger loyalty bond in the customer’s minds. 

The post Google Launches Google Pay Business App, Spot Platform To Boost Offline Retail Play appeared first on Inc42 Media.

Quick service restaurant chain Wow! Momo Foods has raised Series B funding round from US-based investor Tiger Global.  With this investment, the restaurant chain is estimated to be valued at $120 Mn. 

Wow! Momo Foods currently operates over 282 outlets of Wow! Momo and 11 outlets of Wow! China. The company now targets to set up over 120 stores in this financial year.  

Commenting on the investment, Sagar Daryani, CEO and cofounder of Wow! China and Wow! Momo said, “We will use the capital to further scale our operations backed with disruptive research and development to reach out to a larger consumer base within the country.”

The company also sees this investment as an entry point into the global markets, he added. 

Further, the Kolkata-based startup is eyeing a hybrid operating model, wherein it will combine physical stores in prominent retail locations and cloud kitchen model to cater to its growing delivery business. 

“Click and Mortar is the new mantra of the company as it aims to reach an annual turnover of over INR 1K crores in the next four to five years,” the company said in a media statement.

Moving ahead, the company aims to be a platform for QSR play in India and also plans to unveil a range of packaged momo and momo sauce offerings, and will ultimately be working towards an IPO.

Wow! Momo Foods Pvt. Ltd claims to be currently clocking a monthly revenue run rate of over INR 15 Cr. The company is said to be EBITDA positive since inception and has been growing at a CAGR of over 50% for the last three years.

Early investors in the company include Fabindia MD, William Bissel, Indian Angel Network, among others. With Tiger Global’s investment, Indian Angel Network has taken a $3 Mn partial secondary exit from Wow! Momo Foods, earning approximately seven times return in four years and an estimated IRR of over 70%.

Speaking on the development, IAN’s Sanjeev Bikhchandani said, “Wow! Momo team has been able to successfully create a new dominant category in the QSR space on the back of their innovative product offerings and effective customer service and we are looking forward to tasting the surprises it will unveil in the future. “

According to RedSeer’s Foodtech Market Updates, the foodtech industry has seen an overall GMV growth of close to 140% in 2018, with order volumes increasing by a whopping 176%.

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One of the biggest infrastructural gaps in the Indian ecosystem remains the job crisis, and the disruption created by gig economy and part-time jobs in tech startups. Recognising the opportunity to innovate and change the status quo, Google has announced a revamped Google Jobs platform today at the Google For India event today (September 19). 

Google Jobs continues the job search feature that Google had introduced in India recently. Google Jobs will help users find jobs based on their needs and interests. Jobs will also recommend openings and vacancies to users, through machine learning algorithms. 

Google Jobs can be accessed through the revamped Google Pay app, where the new Spot codes functionality will not only help users buy products through retail stores, but also apply for jobs at partner businesses. 

Google Jobs will recommend openings to users as well as the relevant training content through videos and articles. The platform lets users view and apply for jobs, schedule interviews and track applications. Google Jobs is launching with 25 early partners, starting with Delhi NCR, followed by a pan-India launch later this year. 

These partners include the likes of Healthkart, Dunzo, Zomato, Swiggy, Delhivery, Zivame, 24Seven, FabHotels and others.  

Google has tied up with the National Skills Development Corporation and Skill India to bring these job-centric Spot codes to offline locations as well as NSDC centres. For example, those visiting any outlet run by a Google Pay business partner can scan the Spot code to view openings and apply instantly. 

Job uses machine learning to recommend jobs and training content to help users prepare for interviews and learn new skills. The platform also makes it easy for them to apply, schedule interviews and engage directly with potential employers.

Users need to answer a few questions about their goals and objectives as well as job interests so that a profile is built, which can be updated from time to time and shared with others. 

Google Jobs will also match job seekers with prospective employers and will regularly recommend up to 20 jobs on the home feed. 

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In a media statement on Wednesday (September 18), the Ministry of Corporate Affairs announced the setting up of a company law committee. This committee has been set up for examining and making recommendations to the government on various provisions and issues pertaining to the implementation of the Companies Act, 2013 and the Limited Liability Partnership Act, 2008.

The committee has been set up in line with the government’s objective of providing ease of doing business to law-abiding corporates, fostering improved corporate compliance for stakeholders at large and also to address emerging issues having an impact on the working of corporates in the country.

The company law committee will be chaired by Injeti Srinivas, secretary of the Corporate Affairs Ministry. It will look into key issues including the introduction of a settlement mechanism for offences under the companies act as well as de-clogging the National Company Law Tribunals and measure to improve the functioning of statutory bodies under the Companies Act including the Serious Frauds Investigations Office (SFIO), The Investor Education and Protection Fund Authority (IEPFA) and the National Financial Reporting Authority (NFRA).

It is to be noted that the government had recategorized 13 offences under the Companies act as civil offences through an amendment passed in the budget session of Parliament.

The committee will submit its recommendations in phases and subject-wise to the government. The committee will initially have a tenure of one year from the date of its first meeting.

India has gained recognition as one of the top 10 performers in terms of ease of doing business over the last two years, with a jump of 53 places from 2016 to 2018 – the highest improvement by any country since 2011. India is eyeing a top-50 spot in World Bank’s Doing Business Report in 2019 after rising 23 places to hit the 77th spot in 2018.

The reforms being planned include an easier process for filing Goods and Services Tax (GST) returns, increase in the rate of recovery under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code 2016, a colour-coded dashboard to track customs clearances in real-time, a drive-through scanner that scans 100 containers per hour as compared to 8-10 containers earlier, and the elimination of incorporation fees for businesses with authorised capital of up to INR 15 lakhs.

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Prof Ashutosh Sharma, secretary to the government (Ministry of Science and Technology) reportedly said that the government has initiated a project to digitally map the country with a resolution of 10 centimetres, using drones and technologies such as artificial intelligence and big data.

The Survey of India, a part of the Department of Science and Technology, started on the project a few months ago and has chalked out a five-year plan to complete the project. The survey has started the exercise in Maharashtra, Karnataka and Haryana. “The project will be extended to other states but the respective government should show interest and also provide some financial support,” Sharma said.

The project, which is expected to cost INR 1000 Cr, is also mapping the entire Ganga basin from the beginning to the end, 25 km from either sides of the banks with an accuracy of 10 cm. “The need to have a digital map of India was felt as it would enable better decision making in the government. The map will have all types of records including land details, socio-economic data, road network, etc,” Sharma reportedly explained.

The drones, which will be mostly outsourced, will be used to map the length and breadth of India, the department plans to undertake a ground-based survey to corroborate the information before coming up with a high-resolution 3-D map. Priority would be given to urban areas so that this high-accuracy map could be used for planning and implementing projects.

Once the project is completed, the data will be available to citizens and to Gram Panchayats and local bodies, empowering them to use it in decision making and planning process.

The Indian government has been increasingly exploring ways to use drones. These developments come at a time when the central government is looking to come out with new drone regulations.

In September 2018, the Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) legalised flying commercial drones. Earlier this year, the ministry of civil aviation, however, released the draft note for Drone Regulations 2.0.

Further, as per the notification issued by the Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on May 13, 2019, interested organisations have been asked to submit an Expression of Interest (EOI) to the DGCA for conducting experimental Beyond Visual Line of Sight operations (BVLOS) of Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems (RPAS)/Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS). In response to the notification, Zomato is forming a consortium as per DGCA’s guidelines to carry out experimental BVLOS operations.

According to global market intelligence and advisory firm BIS Research, the Indian UAV market will reach $885.7 Mn by 2021, while the global market size will touch $21.47 Bn.

The post Drones, AI And Big Data: Inside Govt’s INR 1000 Cr Plan To Digitally Map India appeared first on Inc42 Media.

Noida-headquartered digital payments giant Paytm has announced its commitment to invest INR 250 Cr ($35 Mn) in its travel business over the next six months.

The funds will help the company in towards scaling up the product and technology team, set up new business verticals and grow the market share in existing travel verticals.

Paytm started its travel business in 2014 and now claims to have sold over 100 Mn tickets in the last three years across rail, bus and flight bookings. The company says it sells 6 Mn travel tickets every month and is targeting to grow by 100% in the current financial year.

The company said that it has a customer base of more than 15 Mn and annual GMV of $1 Bn in the travel business. It had 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.

Abhishek Rajan, senior vice president at Paytm Travel said, “We continue to witness strong growth in Tier 2 & 3 cities, which accounts for over 65% of our new customers.” He said that, “Our users have saved more than 60 crores from our free cancellation feature on flight and bus ticket bookings. We are perhaps the only player in the travel industry that doesn’t charge a fee for processing flight ticket cancellation requests. This is a reflection of our strong customer-first philosophy.”

Paytm Travel had acquired Noida-based last-minute hotel booking app, NightStay for an undisclosed amount in January this year. At the time, 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.

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.

Paytm is also active in the ecommerce space with Paytm Mall, and has also ventured into event ticketing services, wealth management, insurance and gold services. The company had last raised $300 Mn from Berkshire Hathaway last year and has recently claimed to be valued at $15 Bn. The company claimed to have recorded a gross transaction value (GTV) of over $50 Bn, while clocking 5.5 Bn transactions in FY19.

Vijay Shekhar Sharma recently said that the company will start preparations for an initial public offering (IPO) within two years. Paytm chief said he wants the firm to generate more cash before entering the public market.

The country’s overall travel market is estimated to become a $48 Bn industry within the next three years, according to a June 2017 Google India-BCG report. Paytm Travel is competing against player such as ixigo, which claims to have 30 Mn monthly active users predominantly on mobile, 3 Mn daily active users and nearly 130 Mn app downloads. Ixigo claims to grow 100% organically in terms of its traffic and says its improving its user engagement metrics considerably as well.

The post Aiming For 100% Growth, Paytm Commits $35 Mn In Travel Biz appeared first on Inc42 Media.

Electric scooter manufacturer Ather Energy has discontinued its entry-level Ather 340 scooter due to low demand, the company announced through its official Instagram handle on Tuesday. The Bengaluru-based ebike maker plans to focus on scaling up the production of another flagship two-wheeler Ather 450.

The 340 electric scooter has also been delisted from the company’s website. Justifying the discontinuation, the company said that 99% of its users preferred the advanced version over the 340 ebikes.

Ather Energy was founded in 2013 by Swapnil Jain and Tarun Mehta. The company is backed by Hero Motor Corp, Flipkart founders and Tiger Global. With this discontinuation, the electric scooter maker plans to focus on streamlining its production process to address demands.

Ather Energy had launched its flagship ebike Ather 450, along with Ather 340 in Bengaluru in June last year. Earlier in June, the company got the 450 recertified under FAME II scheme.

The Ather 340 and 450 Model Specifications

Both scooters are powered by a brushless DC Motor (BLDC) and share the same design and features. However, the 450 series is an upgraded version of 340 in terms of its capacity.

The 340 is backed by smaller 1.92 KWh lithium-ion battery (LIB) battery and produces 4.4 KW (20 Nm), compared to the 450’s 2.4 kWh LIB producing 5.4 kW (20.5 Nm). This difference in battery restricts the top speed in 340 to 70 kmph, compared to 80 kmph on 450 model.

The discontinuation has also raised questions on whether pricing would affect the sale of electric motors as 340 is more affordable, compared to the 450 model. The 450 model costs INR 1.13 Lakh, despite falling under 5% GST slab. The 340 model is priced at INR 1.02 Lakh in Bangalore.

Pricing: The Problem With EVs

Last month, Maruti Suzuki and BMW India had raised concerns over EV’s market demand and the infrastructure in India. Both companies said that the cost of EV in India will be a hindrance to consumer acceptability.

Rudratej Singh, president and CEO of BMW Group India, the infrastructure for the vehicle is still “ambiguous and uncertain”, which would affect the price and acceptability of the vehicle among Indian consumers.

Just a few weeks later, Maruti Suzuki CEO C V Raman said, “It is going to be difficult to make a good value proposition immediately unless the cost comes down substantially.”

However, the latest development has come as an assurance that the consumer might be willing to overlook the pricing, at least in the case of electric scooters. These escooter are more expensive, compared to the average petrol-run scooter priced between INR 50K-60K.

The post Ather Energy Discontinues One Of Its Escooters Due To Low Demand appeared first on Inc42 Media.

Himachal Pradesh’s draft electric vehicle policy is being drafted with the aim to achieve 100% transition to electric vehicles by 2030, chief secretary of the state Dr. Shrikant Baldi said at a meeting held yesterday on September 18.

The policy will also propose incentives to EV batteries and related components manufacturers and disposals in the state. “The incentives shall be provided to eligible enterprises as per Himachal Pradesh Industrial Policy as applicable from time to time,” the state’s official release added.  

“The objective of the policy is to save the environment, accelerate demand for EVs, promote sustainable transport system and create public private charging infrastructure,” said Dr. Baldi.

The policy is also said to include a viable business model for private players to set up EV charging stations and infrastructure in the state. In addition to this, it will also  include provisions for charging spots to be set up in commercial buildings such as hotels and shopping malls. 

Talking about the electricity rates for EV charging, Dr. Baldi said that domestic rates will be levied if charging is done at domestic charging point and separate ‘non domestic, non commercial’ electricity rate will be proposed for public charging facilities.

“However, Himachal Pradesh Electricity Regulatory Commission will be the final authority to determine the rate of electrical power to EV charging stations from time to time,” the release noted. 

The policy is also said to encourage the use of hybrid EVs by the state government entities during transition period and will also help in creation of new employment opportunities. 

Further, Dr. Baldi noted that Himachal Pradesh Electricity Board Limited has been designated as a state nodal agency for setting up charging infrastructure for EVs. The body will be responsible to fix the ceiling of the service charges to be charged by the public or commercial EV charging stations. He also directed the nodal agency to also identify scopes of charging stations at major routes. 

A state level High Power Committee was also constituted for monitoring the implementation of this policy and for the development of procedures and modalities where required.          

Electric Vehicle Sector In India     

Complementing the central government’s national National Electric Mobility Mission Plan (NEMMP), multiple state governments, including Kerala, Telangana and Delhi, have come up with their individual EV policies. 

Earlier this week, Tamil Nadu government has also unveiled its electric vehicle policy to promote EV startups along with introducing various incentives and concessions for the electric vehicle and battery manufacturers. 

The Tamil Nadu EV policy has proposed 100% motor vehicle tax exemption will be given to all electric motorcycles, buses, three-wheelers and other freight vehicles till 2022.

Also last month, Uttar Pradesh government announced its state EV policy, with a vision to convert 70% of public transport vehicles to EVs by 2030. The state has also promised 100% waiver of registration fee and road tax for the first 100K purchasers of EVs.

To fuel the EV adoption in India, the central government announced Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Hybrid and Electric Vehicles (FAME) scheme. Under the second phase of this scheme, it had proposed to invest INR 10K Cr towards electric vehicles (EV) adoption in the next three years.

The post Himachal Pradesh’s EV Policy Draft Plans Incentives For Local Production appeared first on Inc42 Media.

Singapore-headquartered venture capital firm Vertex Ventures has announced the final close of its $305 Mn early stage fund focused on investing in Indian and Southeast Asian technology startups.

The Vertex Ventures Southeast Asia and India Fund IV received investments from both existing and new limited partners, including sovereign wealth funds, financial institutions, corporates and family offices across Asia and Europe.

The VC firm plans to start deploying the fund before the end of the year. It will continue to invest in early-stage companies in the region across enterprise technology, financial technology and consumer internet.

Vertex debuted in India with India and Southeast Asia fund of 2010 vintage and the second fund of 2014 vintage was fully funded by Temasek via Vertex Venture Holdings. The third fund had surpassed the target corpus to mark the final close at $210 Mn in October 2017.

The investment firm has made more than 40 investments across the region and is completing its last remaining investments from the third fund.

The first Vertex Ventures Southeast Asia and India fund had returned 19.1% as of March, the second fund returned 24.3% and the third 36.4%, according to the firm. “That’s what caused us to continue our relationship in the fourth fund with a larger commitment amount,” said Roque Velasco, managing partner of Galdana Ventures.

The company’s recent investments include Bengaluru-based social commerce startup GlowRoad, which raised $11.5 Mn in its Series B+ funding round. Other investments include digital lending startup Kissht, real-time mobile app management platform Hansel.io and online meat and fish ordering platform Licious.

From 2014 to H12019, seed stage startups accounted for 53.12% or 2,419 deals in the Indian startup ecosystem, reports DataLabs by Inc42. However, the seed stage funding to the total amount of funding was just 2.47% or $1.26 Bn. This lower share of funding amount can be attributed to the smaller ticket size in these early-stage deals.

At present, there are over 416 venture funds who have a focussed on the early-stage startups in India.

The marquee VC funds like Kalaari Capital, Tiger Global Management, Accel Partners India, Sequoia Capital India, Blume Ventures, Nexus Venture Partners among others are already working in parallel with angel networks, HNI’s and corporate investors; and aggressively trying to bridge the gap between early-and late-stage ecosystems.

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At the Google For India event today (September 19), the company announced that it is setting up Google Research India — an artificial intelligence lab in Bengaluru.

At the Google Research Lab, the team will focus on two pillars

• advancing fundamental computer science and AI research by building a strong team and partnering with the research community across the country
• applying this research to tackle big problems in fields like healthcare, agriculture, and education while also using it to make apps and services used by billions of people more helpful.

Manish Gupta will be leading Google Research India. Gupta is a renowned computer scientist and ACM Fellow with a background in deep learning across video analysis and education, compilers and computer systems.

Further, Professor Milind Tambe has joined in a joint appointment from Harvard University as Director of AI for Social Good. Professor Tambe will build a research program around applying AI to tackle big problems in areas like healthcare, agriculture, or education.

The lab in Bengaluru will be part of and support Google’s global network of researchers: participating in conferences, publishing research in scientific papers, and collaborating closely with each other.

The company said it is also exploring the potential for partnering with India’s scientific research community and academic institutions to help train top talent and support collaborative programs, tools and resources.

The AI sector has the potential to add $957 Bn to India’s GDP and boost annual growth by 1.3% by 2035, according to an Accenture report.

Recently, Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur partnered with Amazon Web Services (AWS) to build an Artificial Intelligence related resource platform — National Artificial Intelligence Resource Portal (NAIRP). This platform aims at making the search for AI learning resources much more simple and accessible to learners, practitioners and researchers.

Further, on the government’s end, think tank NITI Aayog, has been working on a national programme on artificial intelligence and machine learning. With the focus on fostering and developing AI industry in the country across stakeholders, Google’s Research Lab is joining the bandwagon of AI in India.

The post Google Sets Research Lab To Build On India’s Deeptech Ecosystem appeared first on Inc42 Media.

Earlier this week, the Tamil Nadu government unveiled its state electric vehicle policy on September 16. The policy proposed to promote EV startups along with introducing various incentives and concessions for the electric vehicle and battery manufacturers. 

Further, the policy noted 100% motor vehicle tax exemption for all-electric motorcycles, buses, three-wheelers and other freight vehicles till 2022. 

Moreover, special concessions were introduced for the companies involved in the manufacturing of electric vehicles, spare parts, batteries, and charging infrastructure. These concessions include 15% capital subsidy for EV manufacturing and 20% for batteries. 

To be eligible for these concessions, companies need to have 50 employees and must have made about INR 50 Cr investment towards manufacturing of battery and charging infrastructure till 2025. 

Complementing the central government’s national National Electric Mobility Mission Plan (NEMMP), multiple state governments, including Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, Telangana, and Delhi, have also come up with their individual EV policies in the last one year. 

Chart of the week: State-wise Electric/Battery Operated Vehicles In India

EV News From India 

Tata Motors, IIT Bombay Students Collaborate On ‘EVoK’ Electric Race Car

Tata Motors and a group of 70 students from IIT Bombay have worked together to develop an electric race car called ‘EVoK’. The IIT Bombay Racing Team competed at the prestigious Formula Student UK 2019 that is held annually after the British Grand Prix at the Silverstone Circuit in the UK in July.

Suzuki Brings EV Battery Plant To Gujarat In Tie-up With Denso, Toshiba

Venturing into the production of lithium-ion batteries and electrode, Japanese automobile major Suzuki Motors formed a consortium with Japanese automotive component manufacturer Denso and multinational conglomerate Toshiba to set up a manufacturing unit in Gujarat. The manufactured batteries will be used to power electric vehicles (EV).

Ashok Leyland To Launch Electric Vehicle JV

Indian truck manufacturer Ashok Leyland is reportedly in talks with a clutch of multinationals to start a joint venture in the electric mobility space. Leyland’s list of potential partners is said to include Michelin, Marubeni, and SBICap Ventures. Talking about the vision behind the JV, Atmanathan reportedly said, “The purpose is to initiate an ecosystem. The JV will work with the entire supply chain — for example, with vehicle manufacturers to procure buses, with maintenance companies for giving out maintenance contracts, etc.”

IIT Kharagpur Students Build A Home-Rechargeable Electric Three-Wheeler

Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur (IIT KGP) students and mechanical engineering professor Vikranth Racherla have built an electric three-wheeler called Deshla, for city transportation. The vehicle is said to be chargeable at home and has a maximum speed of 50 Km/hr. According to Racherla, “In contrast to the three-wheelers in the market at present, the vehicle is far more stable and jerk-free on bad roads.”

Ather Energy Discontinues One Of Its Escooters Due To Low Demand

Electric scooter manufacturer Ather Energy has discontinued its entry-level Ather 340 scooter due to low demand, the company announced through its official Instagram handle on Tuesday (September 17). The Bengaluru-based ebike maker now plans to shift focus on scaling up the production of another flagship two-wheeler Ather 450.

Startup Of The Week: B:Live 

Founded in 2017 by Samarth Kholkar and Sandeep Mukherjee, B:Live offers immersive tours, powered by smart e-cycles. The Goa-based company works closely with multiple state governments to encourage early adoption of electric vehicles across all tourist destinations in India. The company envisions bringing in eco-tourism revolution in the country through curated experiences powered by electric vehicles.

Earlier this week, B:Live has raised INR 4 Cr ($563.18K) in a fresh funding round from DNA Entertainment Networks, which the latter called a strategic investment.

The funds are expected to be used to expand B:Live’s presence in the country and strengthen its technology platform. Prior to this, B:Live had raised INR 1 Cr seed funding led by Shrinivas V. Dempo, chairman of Dempo Group and Shivanand V Salgaocar, chairman and managing director, Vimson Group.

EV News From Around The World

Greece Is The Cheapest Place To Own An Electric Vehicle

An annual Car Cost Index study by LeasePlan noted a sharp decline in the price gap between electric cars and petrol/diesel vehicles across the European markets. Among all European markets, Greece is said to be the cheapest country to own an electric vehicle, at an average cost of $721.84 per month (INR 51,405). Greece is closely followed by the United Kingdom (UK) with an average monthly cost of over $746.73 (INR 53,239). 

China Aims For EVs To Make For 60% Of Country Motor Sales By 2035

China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology is reportedly heading the government’s latest plans to promote EV industry plans for 2021 through 2035. The proposals are said to be still under discussion but the reports claim that the country will be aiming for EVs to make 60% of the country’s automotive sales.

The post Electric Vehicles This Week: Tamil Nadu State EV Policy, Ather 340 Discontinued And More appeared first on Inc42 Media.

Karnataka government on Thursday announced a vision group for startups to provide insights on strengthening the startup ecosystem in the state and focus on involving stakeholders from industry and academia.

The vision group is one of the many initiatives taken by the state government to boost the startup ecosystem, with a special focus on the Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities on the state. Karnataka’s chief minister BS Yediyurappa has also urged the stakeholders to invest in cities like Mysuru, Mangaluru, Hubbali-Dharwad, Shivamogga and Belagavi.

“Our Government has adopted a multi-faceted approach to ensure Karnataka remains the national leader in innovation and enhances its place in the global economy. Our focus would be on skilling, incubating startups, developing global alliances, concentrating on Tier II cities and providing a legal framework for supporting innovation,” Deputy CM Dr. Ashwath Narayan added.

The announcement was made at an interaction session between the vision group members and CM Yediyurappa, along with deputy CM Narayan. The session was also attended by Consul Generals and diplomats from over 15 countries, including Britain, Israel, Netherlands, Japan, Switzerland, Denmark and Sri Lanka.

The government also plans to establish a legal framework for innovation under the Karnataka Innovation Authority to enhance its position as a global innovator by encouraging new and emerging technologies in the state.

Deputy CM Narayan, who will also be the co-chairman of the Innovation Authority, said that the government has started working on a draft bill to create the regulatory sandboxes in Karnataka, under which regulatory requirements will be relaxed and create new guidelines to test innovative technologies in a controlled environment.

The initiative will be formally announced at Bengaluru Tech Summit (BTS) which will be held from 18 to 20 November this year on the theme “Innovation and Impact 2.0”. The 22nd edition of BTS is expected to draw stakeholders from across the globe to participate in technical sessions, deliberations and knowledge exchange.

Karnataka government will also be organising a roadshow across the state to promote Bengaluru Tech Summit 2019.

The post Karnataka Govt To Set Vision Group To Boost Startups In Tier 2 and Tier 3 Cities appeared first on Inc42 Media.

Fintech startup SlicePay has raised INR 20.5 Cr ($2.8 Mn) debt funding from Japan-based Gunosy Capital and investment arms of Das Capital, Pegasus Wings Group.

 Commenting on the investment, SlicePay founder Rajan Bajaj said, “We are touching 15K transactions a day and a waiting list of more than 300K customers. To keep up with the pace, fundraising is a constant for us and we keep meeting the best investors in the world.” 

“This is the beginning of structured long term capital access for us from Japan’s capital markets which has $4 Tn exposure globally,” he added. 

In 2018, SlicePay raised undisclosed funding as part of its ongoing Series A round led by China-based FinUp Finance Technology Group. Earlier in 2017, the Bengaluru-based company also raised $2 Mn led by Japan-based Das Capital, Simile Ventures from Russia and few undisclosed angel investors.

Founded in 2016 by Rajan Bajaj, Slicepay is a fintech startup offering credit solutions exclusively for youngsters between the ages of 18 – 29 years old. The company has also launched a payment card in collaboration with Rupay called SlicePay Card, which comes with a pre-approved credit line. 

 The SlicePay Card has been designed to particularly serve graduate students and young professionals like startup employees, gig workers, freelancers and small business owners who are typically underserved by banks. It can be used to make payments across 5 Mn merchants; online and offline, according to SlicePay.

 Further, SlicePay also partners with ecommerce platforms to offer a no-cost EMI option for high ticket purchases on these platforms. In addition, customers can avail small, short tenure loans in case of emergency.   

SlicePay claims to currently have over 180K active customers spread across 12 cities. Some of the existing investors in the company include Blume Ventures, Tracxn Labs, China’s Finup, Japan’s Das Capital, and Russia’s Simile. 

Between 2015 and Q1 2019, the total investment in Indian fintech startups was $7.62 Bn with a total deal count of 478. Out of the total funding, 50.13% or $3.82 Bn was in payments tech startups, followed by 25.49% ($1.94 Bn) in lending tech startups, according to Datalabs by Inc42.

Moreover, the credit demand in India is projected to be worth $1.41 Tn by 2022. The estimated growth rate in credit demand is 3.73% between FY17 and FY22.

[This development was first reported by Entrackr.]

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