India’s proposed draft amendments to the rules regulating social media and internet companies under Section 79 of the IT Act in 2018, also known as intermediary guidelines, may be selective in its regulations.

While the original idea was to make social media firms and internet companies more accountable for the content that they host, new reports suggest the government may actually implement monitoring measures and takedown rules selectively, and many may apply only to big social media firms such as Facebook, Tiktok, YouTube, Twitter, sparing the likes of Amazon and Amazon Prime Video, Netflix and other OTT platforms.

A report in ET said the rules are largely meant to regulate social media content and other ecommerce or streaming technology firms may not be asked to deal with requests of content takedown, traceability or appoint grievance officers

The report claimed the new rules are likely to be notified by January 15, 2020.

While MeitY has been pointing out the misuse of social media platforms and spread of fake news and the government has been working on strengthening the legal framework to make social media platforms accountable. While the current proposed rules apply to all technology companies, Nasscom and Amazon Web Services have been of the opinion that the rules must apply to social media companies and not to technology intermediaries.

Seemingly agreeing with the concerns, the government may now change the proposed rules for policing online content to include only big social media companies such as Facebook, YouTube and TikTok.

Internet Content Regulation Across Platforms

In contrast to the government’s latest proposal, a recent survey by market research and data company YouGov said, around 57% of Indian citizens think censorship is required for online streaming platforms such as Netflix, Hotstar, Voot, among others. The survey also reported that nine out of ten people think there should be some form of internet censorship.

The report added that around 59% of people feel a lot of offensive content unsuitable for public viewing is being created nowadays and hence should be censored. Almost as many (57%) feared that inappropriate content can have an adverse impact on children.

The government has been stern about the need for internet content regulation across sectors till now. The censorship suggested by the government largely includes content that is banned by Indian courts or disrespectful to the national emblem and flag. It is also concerned about content that outrages religious sentiments, promotes terrorism or violence against the state and shows child pornography.

Around 71 videos of child pornography, rape and gang-rape, among other offences, were in fact taken off from social media, according to the home ministry’s annual report released last week. The primary focus has however been the misuse of social media and stop the spread of fake news.

Masayoshi Son-led Japanese conglomerate SoftBank is reportedly planning to sell its majority stake in SBG Cleantech, its renewables joint venture in India to make room for an additional partner.

According to a report in ET, SoftBank might shell out 70% of its stake in the JV and partner with a company that can give an equity commitment of $1.5 Bn to $2 Bn. SoftBank has so far invested close to $500-$600 Mn in SBG Cleantech, and has Bharti Enterprises and Taiwanese electronics manufacturer Foxconn as partners.

The report also added that SoftBank is currently in early talks with a couple of sovereign wealth and pension funds from the Far East and Middle East regions. Some of these funds are also limited partners in the Softbank Vision Fund (SBVF).

However, the ET report, citing sources directly involved in the negotiations, added that besides the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA), Singapore’s GIC, Canadian pension funds such as CPPIB and CDPQ, sovereign funds such as Abu Dhabi-owned Mubadala are exploring the India cleantech space.

SBG Cleantech is a joint venture between SoftBank, Bharti Enterprises and Foxconn — SoftBank has close to 70% stake in the JV, followed by 20% for Foxconn and 10% for Bharti. The joint venture was launched in 2015 to invest in solar energy projects in India.

This comes at a point when SoftBank is revamping its investment strategies and policies, especially after making a loss of at least $4.7 Bn from its investment in coworking company WeWork. This has led to investors questioning SoftBank’s credibility and investment strategies.

Just like Softbanks investors, founder Masayoshi Son has also publicly regretted his investment in WeWork. In a news conference, Son said, “My own investment judgment was really bad. I regret it in many ways.”

For its $108 Bn SoftBank Vision Fund II (SBVF II), Softbank has reportedly also decided to narrow down its portfolio to companies that have a clearer path to profitability and initial public offerings (IPO). The Japanese investment firm has decided to slow down its investment pace, especially due to the losses incurred by its Vision Fund I portfolio companies like WeWork, Oyo, Wag, Slack and Uber.

In a bid to improve security at railway stations across India, the Indian Railways, on Wednesday (January 8), announced that it will be installing an internet protocol-based video surveillance system (VSS). The intelligent surveillance system will be using video analytics and facial recognition features to monitor and track suspicious activities across stations, including waiting halls, reservation counters, parking areas and others.

The Railway Board in a press statement said that it will be installing closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras across 983 stations under Nirbhaya funds. Earlier, the government had allocated a budget of INR 250 Cr to Indian Railways under this fund for the installation of the video surveillance system for women’s safety.

The project has been entrusted to RailTel, a public sector entity that focuses on providing broadband and VPN services. The company will be responsible for setting up the security and surveillance systems in railway stations across India.

Currently, RailTel is working on installing IP-based VSS in 200 stations and has successfully completed in 81 stations across India, said Puneet Chawla, the chairman and managing director of RailTel.

Indian Railways also said that to get better coverage and clearer image, it will be installing a variety of smart cameras like dome type, bullet type, pan tilt zoom type and ultra HD-4k cameras. The live feeds are then displayed on multiple screens at the Railway Protection Force (RPF) control room.

Apart from the dedicated RPF surveillance centres, the live feed can be accessed in real-time from any central security control rooms located at Divisional HQ.

Work In Progress 

Indian Railways has already started the phase-one of the project in the South Western Railway (SWR) at six major stations, including Bellari, Belagavi, Casco-Da Gama, Bengaluru Cantonment, Bangarpet and Hassan. The railway department plans to have functional CCTV cameras installed at 17 locations by the end of January. The project has also been initiated in Western Railway (WR) as well, including Bhavnagar Terminus, Udhna, Valsad among others.

Last year, the Indian Railways had plans to bring 6.5K railway stations online through public WiFi hotspots. At that time, the ministry had expressed its intention to install cameras at the stations for surveillance and security.

In 2018, the Indian Railways had partnered with IIT Roorkee to use drones to track and monitor rail tracks. The idea behind this was to eliminate the conventional system of physical labour, which poise risk to human life. Instead, the duo will be using drones to monitor tracks and utilise tools to analyse the data captured to reduce the chances of error.

Reliance Retail plans to leverage data analytics and artificial intelligence to stock store-specific assortment within the next year. Reliance Retail’s fashion and lifestyle business is reportedly investing heavily on technology to go hyperlocal soon.

Akhilesh Prasad, CEO, Reliance Retail (Reliance Trends) said that market has fragmented and the so-called metro market is no longer a big catchment area for retail fashion suppliers. “With the ability of data analytics and artificial intelligence, we should be able to stock store-specific assortment in a matter of six months to one year,” Prasad told ET.

The retail arm of RIL, which handles categories such as apparel, footwear and toys, is reportedly planning to dive deeper into cities and semi-urban locations. Prasad said that the company wants to capitalise on the depressed market to expand its footprint in the country and is targeting 70% growth in 2020.

The company is looking to maximize sales by deploying a technology team to develop applications for seamless online and offline experience. Prasad added that the retailer currently puts together about 50 relevant assortment combinations in its stores across the country and the plan is to create as many as thousand combinations for each of its stores by the end of 2020.

“One customer view and one product view features will be executed. Our online-only customer will be recognized at our outlet at his very first entry and will be served by the staff based on his online buying behaviour,” he said.

Reliance retail aims to adopt technology to enable the customer to buy online and even take a refund offline. The company is currently testing technology to implement this in the next 6-8 months.

Founded in 2006, Reliance Retail Limited is a subsidiary company of Reliance Industries Limited. In the food and grocery category, the company operates Reliance Fresh, Reliance Smart and Reliance Market stores. It also runs Reliance Digital, Reliance Digital Express Mini stores and Jio stores in consumer electronics and Reliance Trends, Reliance Footprint, Reliance Jewels, AJIO.com and others in fashion and lifestyle category.

In July 2019, Reliance Retail started the pilot phase of its new ecommerce initiative. The differentiated business model will provide a technology platform for millions of small merchants across India to strengthen and grow their business, the company had said.

The proposed platform is said to drive efficiency and value creation for all players in India’s retail market including producers, brand owners, supply chain players, merchants and customers. Reliance Retail was also reportedly planning to use over 5.1K Jio stores located across 5K cities and towns as delivery and collection points for its ecommerce venture.

MedTech startup Axio Biosolutions has raised $5.2 Mn (INR 36 Cr) in Series B-1 round led by Omidyar Network India. Axio’s existing investors Accel, University of California, Ratan Tata-backed RNT Fund, and Chiratae Ventures also participated in the round.

With this funding, Axio wants to expand into overseas markets like the US and Western Europe, as well as continue to develop surgical and wound care products for the global market.

“With Axiostat [Axio’s invention] receiving USFDA clearance, we are all set to enter the US market this year. Soon, we also will be launching our products directly to consumers for emergency trauma use,” Leo Mavely, founder and CEO of Axio Biosolutions said.

Axio, in its press statement, stated that the global wound-care market is expected to touch $24.8 Bn by 2024, from $19.8 Bn in 2019.

In January 2019, the company had raised $7.4 Mn in a Series B funding round led by RNT Capital. Accel Partners and IDG Ventures India had also participated in the funding round. Masterkey Holdings was the advisor for the transaction.

Just like the Series B-1 funding, Axio planned to use Series B funding to expand into new markets and continue its work on further developing its product line.

Headquartered in Boston, Axio Biosolutions also has its corporate office in Bengaluru and a GMP-certified manufacturing facility in Gujarat. The medtech company was founded in 2008. Since then, it has built a strong research and development (R&D) structure and has multiple patents to its credit in the wound healing, mucoadhesive drug delivery and hemostats space.

Leo Mavely added, “Today, we have a wide range of innovative offerings spanning pre-hospital, intraoperative and post-operative clinical needs. Axio Biosolutions’ purpose is to make a meaningful impact in the surgical and wound care space globally through our patented Chitosan-based technology.”

The company’s flagship invention, Axiostat, also has US-Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) Clearance. The Axiostat is a hemostatic dressing made from Chitosan, which is a polymer extracted from shellfish and has proved to stop uncontrollable bleeding.

Axio claims that Axiostat has prevented countless deaths due to uncontrollable bleeding and grievous injuries. The product has also been used by the Indian armed forces for the last four years.

In its press statement, Axio also highlighted that Axiostat has ventured into devices for surgical bleeding control and has shipped more than 700,000 units and got approval from over 20 countries. The company also launched another product MaxioCel, last year, for the chronic wound-healing market.

Bengaluru-based regional language social and content platform ShareChat has urged the Indian government to make stricter norms for foreign social media platforms operating in the country.

ShareChat, in its letter to the minister of information and technology, Ravi Shankar Prasad, said that the government should make it mandatory for non-Indian social media platforms, which are having more than 1 Mn daily active users, to set up offices in India.

SnapChat’s letter to the Union minister comes at a time when the government is already looking to finalise the amendments in the IT Act’s Intermediary Guidelines. As of now, the guidelines implement that companies with over five million DAUs are only required to set up their offices locally. These guidelines, which were introduced in 2018, are focussed on making online companies accountable for the content available on their platform.

The social media platform also requested the government to introduce a new legal framework that brings supervision and has powers to investigates compliance of foreign companies. It has also urged the government to make it mandatory for these companies to ensure traceability of messages along with providing metadata on law agency’s request.

In the letter, ShareChat’s head of public policy Berges Y Malu highlighted that the government can consider empowering a body for enforcing codes of practices and prescribe financial penalties for non-compliance. “These platforms have come under scrutiny globally, as in many cases their internal systems and processes have been found wanting from a consumer safety and data privacy perspective,” Malu was quoted by ET.

Highlighting that the current norms only regulates compliance to the due diligence standards on a content-by-content basis, ShareChat urged the government to bring new provisions to improve scrutiny of these platforms.

Moreover, ShareChat also said that the government needs to introduce a framework to make these platforms safer for users under the age of 18. The company suggested that the government can follow something like the US’ Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act for the same. However, the company refuted the idea of proactively monitoring social media platforms.

Notably, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) had proposed these amendments in the IT Act with an aim to curb the misuse of social media platforms and the spread of fake news. The IT ministry is expected to finalise the amendments to the Intermediary Guidelines (Amendment) Rules by January 15, 2020.

Industry’s Stand On Amendments

While SharChat is requesting the government to further tighten the norms, other internet giants including GitHub, Wikimedia Foundation and Mozilla, had earlier opposed the amendments in an open letter to MeitY. They had said that this provision will harm the vibrancy of the Indian digital ecosystem.

Moreover, the trade association of the Indian IT-BPM industry, NASSCOM too had expressed concerns about the resulting reduced competition in the digital economy because of this provision.

However, Mukesh Ambani-backed Reliance Jio had supported the provision and said that any proposal mandating the platform service providers to provide required information to law enforcement is often protested on grounds of violation of freedom of speech and expression. “We submit that such protests are without any basis and the government must ignore them,” the company added.

In a collaborative effort to ensure safety for drivers and riders, the global ride-sharing company Uber, on Thursday (January 9), announced that it is adding several new safety features.

Sachin Kansal, Uber’s global senior director of safety product, announced that the company has launched a PIN-based verification product for riders and drivers. For this, a PIN will be shown to the rider as soon as they book the ride and will have to tell this to the driver to begin the trip.

This is a product which Uber’s competitor Ola already offers for the last few years. The only difference is that Uber users can choose whether they need to use this PIN verification. They can also choose if it is for every ride or for night trips between 9 PM to 6 AM.

Uber’s Shimul Sachdeva said that the company is also working on leveraging ultrasound technology for auto PIN verification. For this, the driver and rider’s phone will be synced for auto-verification. Kansal explained that this will be working only when the driver and rider are in very close proximity as this is an additional verification mechanism.

Uber also launched a Ridecheck feature, where both the driver and the rider will be alerted if the trip is paused for a while. The company said this product has been launched today for 50% of the users and will be rolled out across the country in the next few days.

Kansal also announced that the company is also testing audio recordings during the ride by riders and drivers for any uncomfortable happenings during the trip.

It is currently being tested in a few countries in Latin America. The company said that for privacy the audio file is encrypted, where the other person cannot hear it or even be aware that such recording is being done.

Kansal, explaining this feature, further said that the driver or rider has to report the recording to the company for them to hear it and take action accordingly. After it has been shared, the file will be decrypted for safety agents to hear. This product will be launched in India in a few months keeping local regulations in mind, added the official.

The launches are in addition to the safety helpline launched by Uber last year. The 24X7 safety helpline was paired with the in-app SOS button already available in the safety toolkit. It will allow riders to connect to law enforcement authorities in case of an emergency.

Uber had then said that the new safety line will provide riders with the option to get in touch with Uber’s safety team in case of an urgent issue during a trip, such as reporting a co-passenger’s misbehaviour, a dispute with a driver or a break-down.

At present, Uber is planning to make India central to its engineering plans to attract more investment in the country. In India, the company employs around 2,600 people or around 10% of its global strength, and with the new hiring, the India operations will have over 3,600 employees.

However, in October 2019, Uber had laid off around 350 employees in a global downsizing, which impacted over 30 employees in India. Uber had announced that it would move its entire India Business, cab-hailing, and food delivery, among others, under one holding, Uber India Systems.

Chandigarh-based fintech startup PayMart India, on Thursday (January 8), announced that it has raised a fresh funding round led by IIM Ahmedabad’s incubator, CIIE.CO. Angel network Chandigarh Angels and a few Delhi based angels also participated in this round.

The startup aims to provide cash to its users, however, without using any ATM or POS machines. PayMart serves as a platform that provides cardless cash withdrawals through small merchants shops and brick and mortar stores.

A user can send money digitally to merchants via PayMart’s online platform. As of now, the payment modes available on the merchants-enabled cash withdrawal platform are unified payments interface (UPI), SBI Pay, SBI Buddy, among others.

Moreover, PayMart also helps merchants to use excess cash to give credit to individuals. This additional feature provides merchants to earn some extra income through commissions and incentives.

PayMart was founded by Amit Narang in 2015, who was also the founder of FX Mart, which was later acquired by Flipkart. Notably, FX Mart is the same company that Flipkart has rebranded as Phonepe and is now one of the largest payments companies in India.

Though the digital payments space in the country has ramped in the recent past, India still remains a cash-driven economy. Highlighting the dearth of ATM facilities in India, Narang said that even today, 62% of the population is being catered by 40K ATMs only and people have to travel at least 3 to 15 Kilometres just to withdraw the cash. To solve this problem, PayMart endeavours to convert next door merchants into virtual ATMs by tying up with various banks across the nation, Narang added.

Prior to this, PayMart, in July 2019, had raised an undisclosed amount in a seed round, led by Chandigarh Angels Network (CAN).

According to a recent report by NITI Aayog — Digital Payments (2018 edition), India’s digital payments industry is estimated to grow to $1 Tn by 2023. The report also highlights that the value of digital payments will likely jump from the current 10% to over 25% by 2023.

Moreover, since the incorporation of UPI in the digital payments space, the Indian fintech sector has been going through a transformation phase along with the growing internet penetration.

Twitter, on Thursday (January 9), announced that it will soon be launching a new feature that will allow users to limit replies on their tweets. The social media platform said that the new feature is expected to curb cyberbullying and trolling.

The new feature gives users the options to customise the replies under their tweets. It gives users four choices that include ‘anyone can reply,’ ‘only followers can reply,’ ‘only those tagged can reply,’ and ‘no replies at all.’ According to Twitter, these four categories are referred to as ‘Global,’ ‘Group,’ ‘Panel,’ and ‘Statment.’

Here’s what the feature will look like on the Twitter app. The company says it will start experimenting with it before Q1 2019, and then it will rollout to everyone after that. #CES2020 pic.twitter.com/s9azvv41yD

— Edgar Alvarez (@abcdedgar) January 8, 2020

The VP of product at Twitter, Kayvon Beykpour, while addressing the crowd at the CES 2020 in Las Vegas, told Tech Crunch that the primary motive behind this feature is ‘control’. He also said that the team is planning to give users more control and different ways to communicate.

In the testing phase, Twitter said that it plans to experiment with this new feature early this year (Q1 FY20) and release it depending upon the reaction of the users. Suzanne Xie, head of conversations at Twitter, said that there is an entire spectrum of conversations that happens on Twitter and the team is continuously trying to understand what it means to the users. For instance, the public conversation on Twitter is something where everyone in the world can see and reply. However, it is going unaddressed at the moment, she added.

Twitter has been coming up with new features to enhance user experience. Last year, Twitter rolled out a tool to ‘hide replies.’ With this new tool, users can hide responses that are not relevant to the topic shared by the author.

In November 2019, Twitter had also come up with a draft policy to curb fake and manipulated content that purposely tries to mislead or confuse people. It had called this phenomenon deepfake or shallow fake and had sought public opinion on it. Now, other social media platforms like Facebook have also joined the anti-deepfake club to remove fake videos, images, audios and misleading content from its platform.

Additionally, Twitter had announced to remove tweets that threaten someone’s physical safety or can be harmful in any way. Focusing on user behaviour, Twitter plans to evolve its digital portal, features, and services accordingly, where it notifies and warns users about the fake or manipulated media before they retweet them.

Twitter Faces Legal Hurdles For Its Actions 

Earlier this week, the Delhi High Court had issued a notice to the IT ministry and Twitter to discuss censorship guidelines on February 11, 2020. The court’s decision comes after a petition was filed by senior advocate Sanjay Hegde seeking for the restoration of Twitter account after it was suspended in November 2019 for retweeting seemingly-objectionable posts. In the petition, he accused Twitter of violating his right to freedom of speech and expression guaranteed under the Constitution.

Bengaluru-based edtech company Byju’s, on Thursday (January 9), announced that it has raised funding from New York-based Tiger Global. The company didn’t share the funding amount, but reports have said that Tiger Global has invested $200 Mn in Byju’s.

The report further said that secondary transactions, estimated at $100Mn-$200 Mn, are also expected to provide exit to early investors. The company didn’t specify the same and also didn’t share details of plans to use the funds.

Byju Raveendran, founder and CEO, Byju’s said, “We are happy to partner with a strong investor like Tiger Global Management. They share our sense of purpose and this partnership will advance our long term vision of creating an impact by changing the way students learn. This partnership is both a validation of the impact created by us so far and a vote of confidence for our long term vision.”

Byju’s Growth Plans

Founded in 2008 by Divya Gokulnath and Byju Raveendran, Byju’s offers a learning app, which was launched in 2015 and has learning programmes for students in classes IV-XII, along with courses to help students prepare for competitive exams like JEE, NEET, CAT, IAS, GRE, and GMAT.

Byju’s was last valued at $ 5.7 Bn and has raised over $969.8 Mn funding from investors such as General Atlantic, Tencent, Naspers, Qatar Investment Authority, and Canada’s Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) among others.

In January 2019, Byju’s also forayed into the US with the acquisition of Osmo, a US-based learning platform. Over the last year, the company’s fundraising has focused on international expansion. The expansion to the Middle East, the US, the UK, South Africa, and other African and Commonwealth markets have been on the cards.

Further, Byju’s has also tied up with Disney to launch its edtech services for kids in classes 1st to 3rd. BYJU’S Early Learn app for young children aged between 6 to 8 years old with Disney’s stories and characters from Disney Princess, Frozen, Cars, Toy Story franchises and more. This year, the company is planning to launch Byju’s Online Tutoring, which will further help the company to accelerate its growth and profitability.

In the past 12 months, Byju’s claims to have witnessed tremendous growth with over 42 Mn registered users and 3 Mn paid subscribers from both rural and urban areas in India. It claims that the average number of minutes a student spends on the app has increased from 64 minutes to 71 minutes per day over the last year and the annual renewal rates are as high as 85%.

The company had claimed to have tripled its revenue from INR 520 Cr to INR 1480 Cr in FY 18-19 and turned profitable on a full-year basis. The company also said it is on track to double revenues to INR 3000 Cr in the current financial year.

“Byju’s has emerged as the leader in the Indian education-tech sector. They are pioneering technology shaping the future of learning for millions of school students in India. We are excited to support Byju and the team,” said Scott Shleifer, Partner, Tiger Global.

Challenges In Edtech Amid Increasing Investor Interest

The impact Byju’s has created has been highlighted in Mary Meeker’s Internet Trends 2019 report. The report said that Byju’s number of paying students between the ages of 9-17, had crossed over 1.5 Mn in March 2019 from the 1 Mn mark in the last financial year.

Digital evolution and the boom in smartphone adoption are expected to define the way Indian students learn. Real-time book updates, online tutoring, edutainment, online test preparation, web-based research, and gamification — technology has changed our traditional education system in more ways than one. With more than 260 Mn enrolments, India has the world’s largest K-12 (primary and secondary) education system.

According to DataLabs by Inc42, there were 3,500 edtech startups in India in 2018. Between 2014 and 2019, a total of $1.802 Bn was raised by edtech startups across 303 deals.

Byju’s close competitors include Toppr and Unacademy, who are working towards dominating the Indian edtech segment, which is expected to be a $1.96 Bn market by 2021.

DataLabs noted that one of the reasons for edtech startups being unable to go mainstream and attract investments is lack of awareness about the latest education technology in the country. To support the sector, the government is working on national education policy as well.

The draft policy has “proposed the revision and revamping of all aspects of the education structure, its regulation and governance, to create a new system that is aligned with the aspirational goals of 21st-century education, while remaining consistent with India’s traditions and value systems.”

The draft policy says that technology will play an important role in the improvement of educational processes and outcomes. The draft policy says that the relationship between technology and education at all levels is bidirectional.

Bengaluru-based accelerator and seed fund Axilor Ventures, on Thursday (January 9), announced that it has shortlisted 14 startups as winners for the Winter 2019 cohort programme.

Axilor claimed that the company had received more than 725 applications, an 80% increase in the number from the last cohort. Further, Axilor said that it received the most number of applications from sectors such as edtech, agritech, blockchain, and spacetech.

Though most of the shortlisted startups are from the consumer tech, enterprise and fintech categories, Axilor said that it has also chosen six SaaS startups as well. Ganapathy Venugopal, cofounder and CEO of Axilor Ventures, said that more than 90% of the startups have founders with prior startup experience which is a positive trend towards the growing maturity of the overall ecosystem.

Here Are The 14 Startups Selected For Axilor’s Winter 2019 Cohort

• AiKaan Labs

Bengaluru-based AiKaan Labs is founded by Chetan Kumar S, Pronoy Debnath and Siddharth Munot. The startup provides an edge computing platform, to enable and manage edge computing applications. was. Currently, AiKaan is working with clients in smart mobility, industrial IoT, commercial services, and smart cities.

• Emitrr

Founded by Pulkit Gambhir and Anmol Oberoi, New-York-based Emitrr is a platform that enables commerce on voice. The platform provides an easy plugin that works with artificial intelligence (AI) powered voice assistants such as Alexa, Google assistant and mobile.

• eShipz.com

Bengaluru-based eShipz.com provides digitisation and post-shipment analytics services to enterprises. Founded by Shiva Mahadi, Ajay Kumar Raja Kumar and Shashi Tripathi, the startup helps in reducing the shipment processing time.

• Kloudi.tech

Founded by Sneh Ganjoo and Nitish Mehrotra, Kloudi.tech increases the capabilities of developers by solving for the workflow of faster bug resolution. The Bengaluru-based startup increases the speed of developers through tool aggregation, data enrichment and workflow automation.

• Mowito

Bengaluru-based Mowito enables robot navigation without the use of markers or Bluetooth radio transmitters. Founded by Puru Rastogi, the startup provides plug-n-play service which can work with any robot with wheels.

• LightCat

Bengaluru-based LightCat is founded by Utkarsh Apoorva and Ahmed Zain. The startup helps companies to optimise their growth using data science. LightCat’s product, which leverages data analysis using machine learning (ML) algorithms, helps in conducting product experiments easily.

• Upshotly

Chennai-based Upshotly is an employee performance management software. Founded by Sithartha Gowtham and Ganesh Ravi Shankar, Upshotly helps companies to build high-performance teams by integrating workforce models with business tools.

• Bolkar

Ghaziabad-based Bolkar is founded by Prince Tripathi, Dhruv Kaushal, Saurabh Rai, and Abhishek Tripathi. Formerly known as Pascolan, Bolkar is an audio-based Q&A platform.

• ChangePay

Bengaluru-based ChangePay is an integrated local commerce solution for college hostels. Founded by Dhyvik GJ and Sanchit Garg, the startup secures the delivery of online orders through an IoT lockbox that a user can open using the mobile application.

• CollegePass

Founded by Aakash Aaron, CollegePass is college guidance and preparation platform. The startup helps students studying in Grade 9 to 12 to get admissions in top colleges worldwide. It streams online live college admission sessions and classes delivered by advisors from international colleges.

• Intro

Mumbai-based Intro helps self-employed professionals to create their own webpage which acts as a digital business card. Founded by Romil Meghani and Chetan Kantharia, the startup, which is still in beta stage, provides a DIY builder to create a personalised online identity.

• Saarthi

Aurangabad based edtech startup Saarthi is a live educational tournaments platform for vernacular languages users. Founded by Chiraag Kapil, Saarthi is going after the trend of live, social and gamified, incentive-based competitive learning. Currently, in beta stage, the startup is set to launch by the end of January 2020

• Sorted AI

Founded by Snehanshu Gandhi, Tamanjit Bindra and Gaurav Shrishrimal, Sorted AI
is a personal assistant which helps its users to declutter their digital footprint. Using AI technology, Delhi-based Sorted AI automatically sets-up reminders for important things. It also helps in storing and finding important documents or information when required.

• Womaniya

Mumbai-based Womaniya is a women-specify community platform which helps them to discuss their interests and issues and get information from the community and experts in their own language. Founded by Kanak Waikar, Lakhan Suchdev, Avneesh Kumar and Siddharth Kothari, Womaniya claims to have over 25K active users.

This week, Chinese automobile manufacturer Great Wall Motor announced its plans to launch its electric car Ora R1 in India this year. The electric vehicle (EV) is being referred to as the cheapest electric vehicle in the world with a price range of $8.6K to $11K (INR 6.2 Lakh to INR 8 Lakh).

The electric car is powered by a 35KW motor and can cover a range of 351 Km. Even though there is still some skepticism in terms of charging infrastructure, the price and range of Ora R1 will certainly come as a relief for the Indian consumers.

There are hardly any electric cars in India that can go up to 351 Km. Although Hyundai’s Kona provides a range of 452 Km on a full charge, the vehicle also costs about INR 23 Lakh.

Chart of the week: Global EV Sales
EV News From India

EVIT, BSNL To Push Charging Infrastructure

New Delhi-based electric vehicle (EV) infrastructure startup EVI Technologies (EVIT) will be setting up EV charging infrastructure at 5K locations across India. For this, telecom operator Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) will be providing necessary space and power connections.

Govt To Set Up 2636 EV Charging Points

The Indian govt has approved a plan to set up 2,636 EV charging points across 62 cities in 24 states and union territories (UT). Union Minister Prakash Javadekar noted that the installation of the charging stations will ensure that at least one EV charging spot is available within a 4 Kms radius in these cities.

Key Players Blame FAME II For Slump In EV Sales

One of the top executives of two-wheeler manufacturer Hero Electric, in an interview, said that the new FAME II policy has jeopardised the mass adoption of EV in India. The cost-effective vehicles are crucial for the growth of India, the company believes.

Even the society of manufacturers of electric vehicles (SMEV) said that the electric two-wheeler manufacturers are learning to survive without the government’s support, ever since the FAME II scheme failed to promote low and mid-speed electric vehicles in the country. “Sales have dropped drastically,” director general Sohinder Gill added.

Modi Speaks About The Indian EV Roadmap

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, speaking at the 107th Indian Science Congress, said that India must develop a long term roadmap for sustainable and environment-friendly transportation options. In addition, Modi also urged innovators to come up with sustainable solutions for water pollution, lack of drinking water. Decreasing groundwater table and discharge from industries from ruining the soil.

Ather Energy Prepares To Launch Electric 450X Across India

Electric two-wheeler manufacturer Ather Energy unveiled an upgraded version of its 450 model — Ather 450X. Unlike its previous models, Ather 450 X will be launched across India by the end of this month. For this, the company has been approached by 1K dealerships in 130 cities.

Startup Of The Week: EVI Technologies

Founded in 2017 by Rupesh Kumar, Aditya Raj and Vikrant K Aggarwal, EVI Technologies (EVIT) is an Electropreneur Park incubated company and is funded and supported by the ministry of electronics and information technology (MeiTY). In addition, it is also in collaboration with several states and central government initiatives, like Startup India, Digital India, Make In India, Atal Mission For Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation, Smart City Mission and Paris Climate Agreement

Recently, EVIT also raised an undisclosed amount from automotive electronics component manufacturers Napino Auto & Electronics. The company claims to have crossed 10 Mn revenue marks by December 2020.

EVIT has developed a VCube EV Charging (VCube) Station, which charges EVs in less than 80 minutes depending on the EV model. So far, the company has installed over 200 charging points across 16 cities in India.

The company has recently planned to set up EV charging infrastructure at 5K locations across India, provided by telecom operator Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL). First of these charging stations are expected to launch in February 2020 in Maharashtra and Haryana.

EV News From The CES 2020

Looking at the EV trend across the world, the Electric Vehicles were one of the most talked-about electronics at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES 2020). At the event, Fiat Chrysler unveiled its Fiat Centoventi, Nissan shared its ARIYA, Tesla’s competitor Fisker showcased its Fisker Ocean, China’s Byton displayed its M-Byte and BMW also revealed its electric hatchback i3 Urban Suite.

In addition, Jeep unveiled its plug-in hybrid version of three of its models — Wrangler, Compass, and Renegade. The company also announced that it will be electrifying all vehicles by 2020.

Out of all the models launched at CES 2020, here are the ones that broke the internet:

Amazon To Bring Alexa To US-Based

Global tech giant Amazon announced that it will be integrating its voice assistant in US-based EV manufacturer Rivian. Amazon will set up Alexa Rivian’s first all-electric vehicles — the R1S and R1T — as well as its upcoming fleet of 1 Lakh all-electric Amazon delivery vans.

Sony Enters EV Market With Vision S

Global tech giant Sony at the CES 2020 announced that it will be launching its very first car Vision S. With the very first car, Sony has decided to test out the still very nascent EV market.

Mercedes Benz Goes All Sci-Fi With Its Vision AVTR

German-based luxury car manufacturer Mercedes Benz launched its concept car Vision AVTR, which was no less than any futuristic cars from a sci-fi movie. Interestingly, Hollywood director James Cameron and his team from the movie Avatar had collaborated with Mercedes Benz to design the vehicle.

The touch and feel of offline shopping or the convenience of online shopping? Will ecommerce take over physical stores? These are the most prominent questions India’s retail industry is pondering over today.

Offline retail has a set of advantages that online retail just cannot match – shopping experience, getting a look and feel of products and trials. But the convenience of online shopping has made it a big channel for fashion products as well, despite the fact that the fashion and apparel segment has the highest return rate among products, and more than half of them are due to unsatisfactory size.

The benefits of ease, choice and discovery are now being combined with a high-tech approach to solve this big issue. Clothing size varies enormously between brands, and even within different collections of the same brand, so it’s very easy to get one’s size wrong. Measurement charts and size recommendations aren’t very effective as they are mostly generic and many times people overlook them completely.

Most ecommerce stores see 30-50% returns on clothing and about 60% of the returns are due to incorrect fit and another 30% are due to the look. This is where fashion tech startup Bigthinx comes into the picture.

Bigthinx’s software effectively targets these problems with tech intervention and aims to combine the ease and variety of online shopping with the advantages of offline shopping. The company uses AI to solve the two biggest pain points in online fashion – size and look.

Pivoting From Edtech To Fashion Retail

Bengaluru-based Bigthinx started out as an Edtech company in 2015 building virtual science labs for school and college students where they could perform entire science experiments in virtual reality via VR headsets. Founders Shivang Desai and Chandralika Hazarika even signed up one of the major school chains in India to start using their software but struggled with getting them to pay and eventually decided to move out of the edtech sector.

“We started to look out for other industries where our skills could be leveraged. Fashion retail was one such space that caught our attention. It is a dynamic industry with huge potential for improvement in processes, customer engagement, online retail and several other areas,” Desai told Inc42.

Just last year, in the US alone, brands lost $284 Bn in potential sales due to online clothing returns. 84% of all returns are incinerated or landfilled, which has a huge environmental impact, Desai added.

The founders realised that retail is also an industry that has seen relatively little innovation, especially in online retail. Virtual mirrors in stores for virtual try-ons became popular somewhere around 2014-2015, but came with a host of inherent challenges – expensive hardware, connectivity, no information on clothing fit, and trials in public spaces. Furthermore, there was no way to use this technology for the rapidly growing ecommerce segment.

“This is when we had the idea to build a method for identifying size, fit, and delivering virtual trials when shopping online to help consumers shop better and enable brands to cut costs on free returns,” Desai said

As Bigthinx cofounder Hazarika recalled, “We reached out at the time to the founder of a fashion unicorn who met with us to share his insights. He told us that his company had previously acquired a US-based startup trying to do the same thing as us but it ultimately didn’t work out. This encouraged us as sizing and returns was a problem in the ecommerce sector, but retailers had just accepted returns as a cost of doing business. We remained convinced that the product we were describing was an absolute necessity for the ecommerce industry,” said Hazarika.

Desai and Hazarika created their first prototype in 2017 when realization dawned that, as a small startup, the only way to compete with some of the existing alternatives in the market was through automated personalisation and clothing creation.

“It was then that we met Mr Pradeep Guha, the former president of the Times Group and current CEO of 9X Media. Pradeep was completely convinced by the vision and joined us as an investor-partner in the venture. This was when we started building the AI which could make us market leaders in the fashion fit and trials segment,” Hazarika told us.

The Creation Of Bigthinx’s Walkabout 3D Avatar

In mid-2019, Bigthinx released a test app of its Lyflike 3D imaging software to understand how users were reacting to and adopting the technology. The Lyflike app lets users to set up a personalised, walkabout 3D avatar and use it for clothing trials. The AI could either auto-generate clothing from any 2D picture or users could design and try on their own clothing. The platform would match their creations to real products available online.

The app got a few thousand downloads and helped the startup shape the core features its B2B products. After this experiment, Lyflike was taken down as a B2C app and reshaped into a B2B product which any online retailer could integrate into their own website or app.

“In September 2019, we released Lyfsize, an application that carries out human body scans from two smartphone pictures. It immediately gained tremendous interest and has been adopted by customers in Sweden, Finland and India with use cases ranging from ecommerce to P2P clothing rentals (Sweden) to modelling talent agencies (India, Sri Lanka, Nepal) to uniforms and workwear (Finland, India),” Desai added.

Bigthinx founders explained the other applications of the Lyfsize software

1. Modelling
   Working with an upcoming talent agency for the fashion industry, Bigthinx is positioning its platform as the future of fashion talent and technology. This collaboration helps models get body measurements using just their smartphones so that event organisers can have clothing customised for them ahead of time. It also prevents the human errors that occur when people measure themselves.
2. Uniforms and Workwear
   Workwear and uniforms form a vital requirement for many companies, especially from a branding and consistency point of view. Large companies have to design uniforms in line with their workforces around the world, adapting to the varying cultural needs of each geography. Not only does the Lyfsize application let them save time and labour costs, but also gives access to data that’s very useful in future decisions.
3. Mass Customisation
   Another advantage of mobile body scanning is it gives information beyond just body measurements. Body shape data can be broadly interpreted to allow clothing brands to deliver mass customisation, intermediate sizes and optimise production according to their audience.

Going Back To The Consumers

Bigthinx’s Lyfsize and Lyflike AI software not only determine precise body dimensions but also matches users with their ideal size for any brand, providing data on fit, flow and fabric movement. It allows them to see how clothing looks on a 3D virtual, walkabout avatar that looks and measures exactly like the user. Naturally, one would expect the consumer-side applications for this tech to flourish, but that’s still nascent in the retail world.

In the offline space too, consumers can use screens or tablets in physical stores to call up their own avatar and instantly virtually try on hundreds of different outfits and combinations without effort. This is particularly useful in sale-season when stores are overcrowded and lines for dressing rooms are endless, and also for stores specialising in ethnic wear where trying on multiple outfits would be a cumbersome and exhausting experience. So clearly, there is a market for this product in the consumer side.

The 3D body scan carried out by Lyfsize using only one’s smartphone gives 44 different body measurements with over 95% accuracy. For reference, this is more accurate than most professional tailors.The Lyfsize (3D body scanning) product operates on a B2B2C model whereby the startup licenses or white-labels the app to retailers and they distribute it to customers.

For the B2B model, Bigthinx’s Lyflike APIs are integrated into etailer websites or apps and allow real-time clothing trials for consumers.

“We have so far partnered with online retailers in ecommerce, bespoke fashion, fashion rentals, uniforms manufacturers, and fashion talent platforms. One such platform is InchStreet, which is an online aggregator of men’s bespoke clothing providers, where one can choose one’s suiting and styling needs and have it created by the provider of one’s choice,” said Desai.

For InchStreet, it was imperative to get accurate body measurements and they chose to use Lyfsize to eliminate inaccuracies in measurements. Customers in India had disparate measurements due to geographical and cultural differences. Bigthinx standardised measurements and helped Inchstreet overcome this limitations.

The startup’s products are priced as SaaS models based on the expected slab usage and billed on a recurring rate. This allows us to serve various customer groups ranging from massive e-commerce companies to independent designers.

“For fast fashion ecommerce platforms, our AI automates the clothing digitisation process and can realistically auto-create up to 100% of menswear and between 60-80% of womenswear (depending on the complexity) in a matter of a hours,” Hazarika told us.

This extends to catalogues ranging up to millions of SKUs. “When compared to the existing methods of digitising clothing – 3D modelers or 3D scanners – our system is vastly faster and cheaper, allowing almost entire catalogues to be newly digitized every time seasons and styles change,” she said.

The Prada Cohort And Future Plans

Bigthinx was invited to Milan by Startup Bootcamp (SBC), one of the world’s largest accelerator networks, to participate in the selection process for its maiden fashion tech accelerator. The accelerator’s main partner is Prada along with several other heavyweights such as Sopra Steria, Accenture, PwC and others. Having already screened over 1200 fashion tech startups, including hundreds of in-person meetings around the world, Bigthinx was among the top 20 contenders invited to Milan.

“They reached out to us only two weeks before the main event and urged us to make a trip to Milan for the four-day selection event as they believed we had the right technology to meet the needs of their partners in the fashion industry. After a lot of discussions with our advisors and also VCs, who encouraged us to attend, we decided to participate,” said Desai.

In Milan, the startup pitched and demoed products to over 150 programme mentors, including the owner and top management of Prada. Bigthinx is the only company from India to be selected and will be working closely with the programme’s partners from January 2020 onwards.

“Over the next year, our plan is to work with the world-leading luxury brands which we now have access to such as Prada, Sopra Steria and others, as well as to deploy our products into ecommerce web shops in Europe with the learnings we derive,” said Hazarika.

As Bigthinx’s products are pure software pieces, the startup has the ability to scale its customer base rapidly. Their plan is to acquire several major European ecommerce players as paying customers within the next few months, after which their sights are set on the US.

The expansion plan is to enter each geography with well-established local partners that have broad and deep ecosystem knowledge, connections and existing networks. In the next two years, Bigthinx expects to serve large consumer bases for fashion products in the US, Europe and a few other Asian markets.

It is also deploying the Lyfsize software in fitness studios to allow users to track body transformations and health risks, and take appropriate course corrections. Over the course of the next three years, Bigthinx plans to diversify into the healthcare and gaming sectors.

“Our competitive edge lies in a combination of several components – focus on automation, constant innovation, defensible IP, speed and agility. Staying ahead of the curve in all of these aspects is what will keep us competitive in the years to come,” Desai said.

Correction Note: Some sections of this article have been edited post-publishing to fix typographical errors and improve clarity of language.

Indian automobile giant Mahindra Electric, on January 9, announced that it will be rolling out electric version of its KUV sports utility vehicle in the first quarter of the financial year 2020-21. The electric vehicle (EV) will make its first public appearance at the Auto Expo 2020, which will be held in February 2020.

Speaking at the press conference held in Delhi, Pawan Goenka, managing director at Mahindra and Mahindra, said, “The e-KUV will be priced under Rs 9 lakh. The electric car will be priced under INR 9 Lakh. The electric car will be showcased in the upcoming Auto Expo 2020 and is expected to hit the market by the first quarter of 20-21 financial year.”

‘Shared Electric Mobility Has Taken Off’

Goenka added that the time for electric vehicles has finally arrived and that EVs have already taken off in the shared mobility space. Talking about the government’s role in pushing EVs, he added the government has already done its bit by encouraging EVs and now even state governments have been aggressively pushing for EVs through incentives and policies.

Goenka also noted that many states have started procuring electric buses and there are expected to be at least 4K e-buses on the road by 2020. The MD also admitted that electric two-wheelers and three-wheelers have proven to be commercially viable, which can be demonstrated through its partnership with B2B electric fleet provider Lithium Urban.

Lithium Urban and Mahindra Electric have been in partnership for the last five years and have covered 100 Mn e-Kms together with 1K Mahindra EVs in the Bengaluru-based startups’ fleet.

Goenka clarified that Mahindra will be focusing on shared mobility for now, but will also be unveiling the electric version XUV 300 to mark its entry into the personal emobility segment. At the press conference, which was intended to share the achievements of the partnership between Mahindra and Lithium Urban, Goenka also revealed Mahindra’s future plans in the emobility segment.

‘Make EVs In India’

Mahindra will also be launching its ATOM Electric in the third quarter of FY21 for shared mobility fleet. In addition, by March 2020, the company plans to localise production of EV by using parts manufactured in India. However, battery cells will not be a part of this localisation drive.

The company will be manufacturing motors, chargers and assembling batteries at Mahindra’s production unit in Bengaluru, where the company has invested INR 250 Cr. Mahindra has also decided to set up a research and development (R&D) center in Bengaluru, where it will invest close to INR 500 Cr. The R&D will be used to manufacture high voltage batteries and high power starter motor, among other EV components.

The MD also emphasised that EVs have started to grow in India but the demand is still low as only 230 to 250 electric four-wheelers are being sold per month. Therefore, the current slowdown in the automobile industry has nothing to do with the electric mobility segment.

Goenka also announced that Mahindra is looking to electrify radio taxi operator Meru’s fleet, although the company has not set a deadline for the same. Mahindra acquired a 55% majority stake in Meru, back in September 2019.

Singapore-based real estate tech and advisory company Elara Technologies, which owns Housing.com, PropTiger.com and Makaan.com, on Thursday (January 6), has raised $70 Mn from its existing investors NewsCorp and REA Group.

Inc42 reached out to Elara Technologies for more details about the funding, however, the company refused to comment on the matter.

According to media reports, Elara Technologies said that it will be utilising the funds to accelerate growth, develop new products and technology and expand its sales team. Elara Technologies which is growing at 30% year-on-year (YoY) also plans to explore newer avenues in the coming days.

Elara Technologies was cofounded by Dhruv Agarwal in 2011 and also launched PropTiger.com in the same year. In May 2015, the company acquired Makaan.com and in January 2017, it acquired Housing.com. In August 2018 there was also a rumour that the company had acquired  Delhi-based office space aggregator CBIX for $4.7 Mn. In 2019, it acquired Gurugram-based tech-enabled rental brokerage platform FastFox at a valuation just under INR 100 Cr ($14.2 Mn)

Elara Technologies offers a full range of online to offline (O2O) real estate services, including personalised search, virtual viewing, legal and financial diligence, home loans, sales services and more. Moreover, the company claims to have developed a unified technology platform (PropTiger.com) that services all kinds of consumers, developers and brokers, in terms of buying, selling and renting of real estate properties across India.

In August 2018, Elara Technology had secured a credit facility of $35 Mn from Citi Singapore. The recent capital infusion is in the form of a convertible note that is said to cover its previous debt funding raised from Citi Singapore. In total, Elara Technologies to date has raised $175 Mn in funding. The company also claims to be backed by investors like SAIF, Accel, SoftBank and Citi Singapore.

The Indian real estate market is expected to touch $180 Bn by 2020, with the housing sector alone contributing 11% to the country’s GDP, as per India Brand Equity Foundation (IBEF). The growth of the online real estate market is expected to be driven by the young population which is of average age group (15-35 years), the report added.

This article is part of Inc42’s Startup Watchlist, an annual series in which we list India’s most promising startups for 2020 from startup sectors such as media and entertainment, agritech, logistics, healthtech, edtech and more. Explore all the stories from our Startup Watchlist 2020 series here.

The idiot box is no longer without smarts. Not only has it evolved into the smartest version but it has also cloned itself onto every possible screening device, thanks to the birth of OTT and digital entertainment. These screens are the avenue for the bulk of the millennial and Generation Z population for gaming, movies, and TV.

The rise and projected growth of the over-the-top platforms is a certainty given the penchant for data consumption in India. Considering the increasing number of entrants in this segment and a wide user base, India’s national investment promotion and facilitation agency, Invest India projects the Indian media & entertainment industry to touch $34.8 Bn by 2021. It further states that the industry is projected to grow at a CAGR of 14% over the period 2016-2021, outshining the global average of 4.2% Compounded Annual Growth Rate (CAGR), with advertising revenue expected to increase at a CAGR of 15.3% during the same period.

The Indian advertising industry is projected to be the second-fastest-growing advertising market in Asia after China. At present, advertising revenue accounts for around 0.38% of India’s gross domestic product.

According to DataLabs by Inc42, the media and entertainment sector recorded a total funding of at $561.27 Mn in 2019, a decline of about 23% in the amount of funding in the sector from the previous year. This could be a temporary fall given that the market for media & entertainment startups is only growing with the wave of new Internet users and the rise of the regional language ecosystem.

The online gaming industry in India is expected to generate a revenue of INR 11,900 Cr by the financial year 2023, growing at 22% CAGR, according to a report by consulting major KPMG and the Indian Federation of Sports Gaming. The addressable base is also increasing and is expected to touch nearly 600 Mn users in India by the end of this year. As a result, the Indian media and entertainment startup sector is also booming.

To highlight the growth of this space, Inc42 has curated a list of some media and entertainment startups that are expected to make it big this year and have the potential to outlast the competition in 2020.

Editor’s Note: The below list is in alphabetical order and is not meant to be a ranking of any kind.

Editorji

News has changed in the 21st century with the advent of digital media and entertainment and the rise of video as a format for consuming news in India. Founded by veteran journalist and former NDTV CEO, Vikram Chandra, Editorji uses artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) to learn user tastes and preferences, and suggest a playlist of news videos tailored to their interests.

Founded in 2018 and headquartered in New Delhi, Editorji offers a free-of-charge and ad-free version at present but plans to roll out a paid version this year. It generates revenue through paid content partnerships and events.

The application has close to 2 Mn downloads across iOS and Android other than users that flock-in via partnered distribution platforms such as Airtel Thanks & Xstream, Panasonic Arbo Hub, Firestick, Alexa, Glance among others.

Biswajit Borkataky, head of operations and platform relationships for Editorji, told Inc42 that the biggest challenge that the media faces currently is that most established TV companies do not have their digital strategy in place, most often it’s TV content rehashed for the web & mobile. “This does not work and secondly quality independent content publishers do not find distribution. Editorji sees this as an opportunity to give quality independent publishers the platform and also getting the traditional TV companies to use the platform to experiment with short video content,” he added.

For 2020, Editorji is looking at integrating with more distribution partners, including smart TV apps and expanding the offering to 6 additional languages along with rolling out an adtech service for the platform.

Hippo Video

Video is the next frontier for brands and businesses. Hippo Video is a SaaS platform capitalising on the need for businesses to create engaging video content, offering personalised video distribution and enabling businesses to leverage a single video to create multiple experiences for each customer at scale.

The platform generates revenue through subscriptions for its video creation and distribution engine. Leveraging AI and ML applications, Hippo Video is looking to grab on to the social media opportunity for branded videos. The startup told Inc42, “With the success of platforms like Facebook Live, Instagram, and TikTok, we know that video is the most engaging media that brands should create. But when a single content is designed for the masses, it fails to connect with them genuinely. Hippo Video is perceiving AI and ML as the torch bearers of the future and is already using it to create personalized videos, exclusively for businesses.”

With close to 500 customers worldwide, Hippo Video is looking to expand its customer base in 2020 and reach different verticals with its video distribution service.

Homescreen Network

Interactive and multilingual content is the need of the hour to cater to the millions of users coming online for the first time and using Indian regional languages for digital communication and consumption. Homescreen Network is a content-community-commerce platform for India’s regional language users. While the model is similar to Hippo Video, HSN focusses on lifestyle brands, products and services with content in vernacular languages.

Founded in 2018 by Soum Paul and headquartered in Bengaluru, Homescreen Network claims to have worked with hyperlocal businesses, experts and merchants from Chennai, Bangalore, Kolkata, Pune, Mumbai, Mysore, Coimbatore, Indore, and other Tier 2 cities.

While touting penetration of mobile phones into India’s hinterlands and regional language internet as catalysts, Paul told Inc42, “We are also in the early phases of a highly interactive video and live-stream era, where audiovisual experiences will transcend and transform numerous domains like lifestyle, commerce, education, healthcare, fashion, and living.”

In 2020, Homescreen Network plans to add support for at least four more Indian languages and do a wider public launch of the platform features to work deeply with a wider set of brands and merchants.

Kuku FM

Kuku FM is a platform where Indian storytellers share their stories in their mother tongue to the world through podcasts. Cofounder Lal Chand Bisu told Inc42, “We help them in content creation, distribution, and it’s monetisation and we are going to make money in every aspect of this process.” Adding that the subscription model and micropayment will be the startup’s primary business model in times ahead.

Founded in 2018 by Bisu, Vinod Kumar Meena and Vikas Goyal, the Mumbai-based startup is backed by India Quotient, 3one4 Capital and Shunwei Capital.

Bisu further added, “We are being downloaded over 15 lac times and have been rated 4.9 stars on play store by more than 20,000 users. The average daily listening time per user is 50 min. We work with over 3000 skilled content creators across all content types and genres including brands like Dainik Bhaskar and Film Companion and HT Media.”

For 2020 the startup aims to bring monetisation into play and grow its community of creators 10x with support for three new vernacular languages.

Lokal

Regional language content is booming in India. Many Indian startups have looked to address this burgeoning opportunity, and Lokal is one of the first to bring a vernacular classifieds and videos platform for India’s regional language internet users. Cofounder Jani Pasha told Inc42 that out of India’s 1.3 Bn population, regional language users don’t get access to good internet products for jobs, classifieds, e-commerce, education, like the English speaking set.

“There is a total lack of quality internet products for non-English speaking users for anything other than entertainment. We are building Lokal to solve this. Lokal is changing this by building a world-class product for 900 Mn non-English speaking Indian users providing them local news, classifieds + more meaningful use-cases evolving every day,” Pasha said.

The Bengaluru hyperlocal news and classifieds platform was founded by Pasha and Vipul Chaudhary in 2018. Pasha told us that local content platform that will win the Indian market will be the one that is able to monetise regions in a better manner by having a business model around classifieds and not just impression-based advertising.

While at present Lokal has more than 4 Mn downloads and is operating in 27 districts across Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, and Uttar Pradesh, it plans to launch in three more states in 2020.

Mobile Premier League

Mobile gaming reached new heights in 2019 with the ascension of Dream 11 into the unicorn club. Mobile Premier League is gunning to become a unicorn soon with its platform approach and multiple games. Targetting casual and esports players and game developers, MPL helps games monetise their skills through real rewards in games such as chess, pool, carrom among others. Users participate in skill game tournaments or challenges by paying a registration fee on the MPL app, with the winner taking a major chunk of the pooled amount.

Founded in 2018 by Sai Srinivas Kiran and Shubham Malhotra, MPL has 32 Mn registered users across India, Indonesia and Singapore and partnering with over 20 gaming studios and organisations including names such as Psypher interactive, Dumadu Games, Juego Studios, Paytm, NDTV, AWS, Cornerstone, and Clevertap.

“We feel that the biggest challenge for the media and entertainment sector is to understand and appreciate that different kind of people like/consume different kinds of content, and as an industry, we need to be receptive to those needs,” an MPL spokesperson told Inc42.

In the year ahead, MPL aims to become the world’s largest esports and content monetisation platform by adding more titles, games, foray into more kinds of content and expand.

Playo

Despite the huge landmass, India is not a very friendly place for sports enthusiasts with spaces and venues available only at a premium. Playo is looking to change that with a community and commerce platform catering to amateur sports enthusiasts and groups. The platform helps users engage with other enthusiasts while also accessing activities, venues, events and other sports-related services. The startup generates revenue through a commission from merchants on venue bookings, event registrations, products or service sales and for advertising.

Founded in 2015 by Gauravjeet Singh, Amit Roushan, Karthik Igoor, Daanish Suhail and Umashankar Nagaraj, Playo is headquartered in Bengaluru. The Playo app has more than 1.2 Mn downloads and is present in seven cities in India and UAE. The startup claims to have partnered with more than 1000 sports venues and organisers, enabling over 150K activities per month.

Gauravjeet Singh, cofounder and CEO of Playo, told Inc42, “The lack of established market means that we have to continually work on advocacy to catalyse the market growth. Further, the lack of an established existing player means there is not a tried and tested playbook for the business model. Sports has been akin to medal conquests and positioning it as a recreational opportunity means changing the status quo.”

For 2020, the startup aims to expand geographically to more Indian cities and enter Europe and Southeast Asia markets.

Square Off

Can AI, robotics and IoT change traditional board games? Square Off is looking to do just that with its high-tech board games starting with the ancient game of chess.

Square Off was founded by Bhavya Gohil and Aatur Mehta in 2015 and is headquartered in Delaware, USA.  Its smart chess boards make moves automatically when controlled through a smartphone app. The startup generates revenue through sales of its game and app which has paid features and online chess coaching. It currently claims to have over 20K customers for its board and 30K users on the Square Off mobile app.

Square Off has a partnership with Chess.com which has 30 Mn+ registered chess players and it also works with retail majors like Amazon, Touch of Modern, Hammacher Schlemmer, B8ta stores, D & H Distribution, Chess USA, Chess Baron and House of Staunton.

Cofounder Gohil told Inc42, “We are trying to give a modernised experience of a traditional board game backed by technology, hence, our boards come with minimum tech aesthetics, however, we are strongly backed by AI and robotics in the backend. We feel with our new offerings at a relatively lower price, we will revolutionize the way board games are played.”

For 2020, Square Off plans to introduce two new chess-centric products and revamp its app with new features.

Vokal

While Quora is now moving to add support for Indian languages, Vokal is going with a native approach to address the regional language opportunity in India.

Founded in 2017 by Aprameya Radhakrishna and Mayank Bidawatka and headquartered in Bengaluru, Vokal is an Indic language question answer app using voice and video as the mode to provide answers to the user’s questions. For 2020, Vokal says it wants to reach 30 Mn monthly app users which would make us one of the top content communities and platforms in India.

Cofounder Aprameya Radhakrishna told Inc42, “While smartphones and data getting cheaper are increasing the number of people getting onto the internet, the amount of content and number of products available to use the internet is falling significantly short. Pushing for more community-based products that will enrich the Indic internet is the way forward.”

WinZO

Gaming has taken India by storm and the rise of PUBG is the biggest example of this phenomenon. Looking to capitalise on the craze for casual games, WinZO aggregates third-party games and offers them in various vernacular languages. It currently offers personalised content in 10 languages and pushes the most relevant content to the user based on past gaming history and other data, making content discovery easier. Just like MPL, WinZO has taken a multi-game approach with tournaments for games such as quizzes, carrom, cricket, chess and more.

Founded in 2018 by Paavan Nanda and Saumya Singh Rathore, WinZO is headquartered in New Delhi and backed by Kalaari, KStart, and Hike. At present WinZO has more than 15 Mn registered users, spending 55 minutes on the application per day on average. The company claims that 90% of its user base belongs to Tier 2-Tier 5 cities across India.

“We foresee far more opportunities than challenges in the mobile gaming industry in India today. Indian gaming space is one of the fastest-growing sectors, globally. In 2018, six billion games were installed only in India. We see this as at least a $10 Bn opportunity. India is steadily moving towards value-driven consumption, with an increased focus on local development,” a spokesperson told Inc42.

For the new year, WinZO plans to add over 300 games in over 15 languages to target an expanded user base of up to 100 Mn players.

The media and entertainment startups are selected for the Watchlist based on editorial criteria as well as the recent funding, stage, growth or scale achieved in the preceding year and how it has differentiated itself or its model in a competitive market.

The recent digital growth of India has helped many sectors to come and earn online. One such industry that jumped onto to bandwagon of this digitisation ride was travel and tourism, which is now expected to reach $39.09 Bn by 2021.

According to a recent report by the Competition Commission of India called ‘Market Study On Ecommerce In India’, the country’s online travel agency (OTA) market is growing at an average annual rate of 16% between 2015 and 2021.

The report, which was published on Wednesday (December 8), highlighted that with the usage of price comparison platforms, users are able to get the best deals on their online travel bookings. Some of these platforms are Trivago, Booking.com, Agoda, Paytm, among others.

Highlighting that ecommerce has changed the fortunes of large franchise chains in the budget hotel segment, the report cited that these chains gain online customers through their own websites and mobile applications while also listing their properties on other OTAs. Some of the examples of these chains are hospitality unicorn Oyo, FabHotels, Treebo, among others.

Moreover, the report, hinting towards OTAs such as MakeMyTrip, Goibibo, etc, it said that these platforms have launched assurance programs, wherein they lend their brand names to hotels which are listed on their platforms.

On how technology is working in the OTA segment, the report said that it is facilitating customisation of services to guests. The report also noted that the travel package feature is also helping OTAs to increase the customer base of hotels.

According to the report, hoteliers keep mostly two things in mind before listing on an OTA — conversion rate and transparency in payments. On the other hand, for an OTA, factors such as customer visits, the commission charged, cancellation policy, and advertising emerged to be the most important points before partnering with a hotel.

What Are The Problems Associated With OTAs

One of the major problems, which is common across major OTA platforms, is deep discounting. As the discount schemes and the extent of discounts to be offered to customers are unilaterally decided by the large platforms, the hoteliers sometimes face losses because of this, the report noted.

On their part, the OTA platforms said that they give the option to hoteliers to either participate in the deals or not. However, the report added that non-participation in these deals affects hoteliers rankings and client base on these platforms, affecting the capability to compete fairly.

Interestingly, the report stated that the discounts were earlier funded by these platforms, however, now the burden of funding discounts has shifted to the pockets of hoteliers. “Deep discounts are offered to drive consumer traffic on to the platform and are thus a major parameter of competition between platforms on the consumer side,” the report added.

However, the study also found that OTAs typically include wide parity provisions in their contracts with hotels and it is only the discounting practice that is harming the business of hoteliers.

New Delhi-based fashion house High Street Essentials (HSE), the parent company of women’s exclusive brands — FabAlley and Indya, on Thursday (December 9), announced that it has raised INR 8 Cr in venture debt from Trifecta Capital in the second round of debt infusion. Prior to this, in January 2018, HSE had raised its first venture-debt round of INR 5 Cr from Trifecta Capital. In December 2018, it had raised INR 60 Cr in Series B funding from SAIF Partners.

With this fresh round of funds, the company will be aggressively expanding its offline and online presence across India. It will also be using it for developing new offerings and brands in the fashion segment and upgrade its technology infrastructure and working capital simultaneously.

In a press statement, HSE said that in the next 12 to 18 months the company will be growing its retail presence by increasing its exclusive brand stores’ count to 50 and doubling its shop-in-shops in more than 650 locations. “The expenditure required to fund this growth is best done through debt as it reduces the cost of capital and improves the return on equity (ROE),” said Tanvi Malik, the founder of HSE.

HSE was founded by Shivani Poddar and Malik in 2012 and it launched women’s western fashion brand FabAlley in the same year. In 2016, it launched Indya, an ethnic-fusion brand. In October 2018, the company launched its third brand Zyra, a fashion jewellery platform. The company sells its products on websites, horizontal online marketplaces, large format chains such as Lifestyle and Central, along with more than 30 exclusive brand outlets across the country.

In FY19, the company recorded net revenue of INR 90.2 Cr with an earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) of INR 3.3 Cr and a profit of tax (PAT) of INR 1.3 Cr. The growth was fueled by its sustained effort towards increased distribution, product expansion and technology. It expects to close FY20 at a growth of 75% over FY19, with profitability. During FY20, HSE claims to have scaled up its retail footprint with ten new Indya stores and five FabAlley stores, along with expanding both brands to over 350 shop-in-shops across the count

In FY18, the online fashion store FabAlley was EBITDA profitable and clocked a gross merchandise value (GMV) of $11.85 Mn (INR 80 Cr). Interestingly, the company recorded 30% of its revenues from offline channels, which include retailing services via the Future Group’s Central and Shoppers Stop retail outlets among others. At the time, the company said it would increase its offline revenue to account for half its total business in the coming years.

This article is an overview of DataLabs by Inc42’s upcoming Annual Indian Tech Startup Funding Report, 2019 which offers a detailed analysis of the investment trends, mergers & acquisitions (M&As), startup policies and macroeconomic factors that influenced the Indian startup ecosystem from 2014-2019. Read all articles in this series

With a new year and a new decade upon us, there’s a lot of excitement in the air and hope around growth for the startup ecosystem. As usual, we have identified several emerging trends for 2020 and sectors that will see the most investment and innovation activity. To peer into the new year, we have taken stock of the ecosystem and relying on the patterns set in 2019 to deduce the trends, the funding amount and the deals expected for 2020.

To begin with, DataLabs by Inc42 estimates that by the end of 2020 the total value of funding amount is not going to be very different from 2019. At the end of 2020, the funding amount is expected to be approximately $12.6 Bn across 778 deals, taking the total funding raised by Indian startups between 2014 and 2020 to over $71 Bn. In terms of startups funded, the total count of deals for the six-year period will reach 5,789 in 2020.

In the Indian Tech Startup Funding Report in Q3 2018, DataLabs by Inc42 had predicted that the funding amount in Indian startups would hit the $12 Bn mark with 748 deals for the calendar year of 2019. With a total capital inflow of $12.7 Bn across 766 deals, the startup ecosystem growth in India was more or less along these predicted lines. And the growth for 2020 will be incremental, at best as per our projections.

This trend of evolutionary growth has been playing out since 2017, the year when the funding amount in Indian startups reached its historical peak of $13 Bn. Since then, the capital inflow in Indian startups has remained more or less stable.

Looking at the average annual growth of funding amount from 2014 to 2016 and from 2017 to 2019, we can see the growth and subsequent stabilisation. Between 2014 and 2016, the average annual growth in the capital inflow was 18%, whereas in the second period, the growth rate was approximately -1%.

We categorise the pre-2017 period as the growth stage of the Indian startup ecosystem’s life cycle, whereas the post-2017 era can be called the transition period between growth and maturity. As the Indian startup ecosystem heads towards maturity, capital inflow is poised to stabilise along with the frequency of deal count.

In 2020, we expect the total capital inflow in Indian startups to remain in the range of $12 Bn to $13 Bn as witnessed in 2019. Similarly, the count of funding deals is estimated to be in the range of 750 to 800. There are multiple factors at play which are enabling the transition of the Indian startup ecosystem. Among the primary ones are investors getting picky about early-stage deals, prioritisation of unit economics and business sustainability over addressable market opportunity and cashburn to acquire users, and the rising popularity of syndication in investments due to growing risk of startup failures.

In addition to the estimated value of the funding amount and deal count in 2020. Here are some other trends which we expect to prevail this year.

Seed Funding Amount Set To Rise In 2020

While we do not expect the state of seed stage investments to improve drastically in terms of unique startups funded or overall deal count by 2020 end, seed funding amount will bounce back.

Deal count and count of unique startups funded will continue to diminish at a rate of -13% (2015-2020). On the bright side, the value of funding amount is expected to witness an uptick of 41% ($35.6 Mn) compared to the $25 Mn mark reached in 2019.

The growth in value of funding amount in seed stage investments will primarily come from the overall ticket size of investment increasing with time. The median funding amount of startup investments for the year 2019 was $4 Mn which is a 3.4x surge compared to $1.16 Mn in 2015. Similarly, the median funding amount in seed stage surged 2x from $359K in 2015 to $764K in 2019.

Healthtech Startups In For A Bounty

In terms of emerging sectors, in our 2018 report, we had expected the rise of IoT, blockchain, cybersecurity as well as space tech. The latter, in particular, has grown in stature — even if not in funding amount — thanks to the launch of India’s Chandrayaan-2 mission and the buzz around the Indian space sector.

For 2020, DataLabs by Inc42, expects healthtech and fintech startups to shine in terms of deal count and funding. Finance and healthcare are two of the most significant aspects of the Indian economy. The fact that startups operating in fintech and healthtech develop products or services that are so vital to life means that the consumer and business demand for improved functionality and more innovation is always going to be high, which is what investors will eventually look at.

In case of fintech, the value of total funding amount in 2020 is estimated to be approximately $2.01 Bn which is a decline of 22%, but this downfall is a simple market correction of capital inflow in the sector, as the trend of alternative year downfall is quite clear in fintech since 2014.
From 2015-2020, the capital inflow in this sector is growing at a CAGR of 5%.

On the other hand, the count of unique fintech startups funded is estimated to be 121 compared to 106 in 2019, growing at a compounded annual growth rate of 12%

For healthtech, the value of capital inflow in the sector for 2020 is estimated to be $580 Mn, which is a surge of 14% compared to $519 Mn in 2019. The funding amount in this sector is growing at a rate of 12.4% (2015-2020), while the count of unique startups funded is estimated to reach 56, an 8% hike from 2019.

In 2021, provided that the market conditions are favourable, DataLabs by Inc42 estimates the annual capital inflow in the Indian startup ecosystem to reach a new historical peak, much higher than the $13 Bn invested in 2017, the peak funding year so far.

The full set of our predictions for the Indian startup ecosystem for 2020 is presented in the DataLabs By Inc42 Annual Tech Startup Funding Report 2019.

The Indian government’s recent decision to revoke merchant discount rates (MDR) charges has split the industry. While few of them are opposing the move, some notable players have come out in support of the decision and Paytm is one of them.

In an interview with ET, Paytm’s founder and CEO Vijay Shekhar Sharma said that he believes that zero MDR can work out very well for the growth of the industry. However, Sharma has additional expectations from the government. “While I am on the side of MDR becoming zero being a good thing for the merchant, the government should reimburse people who are acquiring merchants,” he added.

Highlighting the high costs incurred by the company in adding new merchants, Sharma said that Paytm has invested around INR 15K Cr. “It has come at the cost of our equity,” the founder added.

Inc42 has reached out to Paytm for clarification of Sharma’s responses, but we did not receive any reply till the time of publication.

Sharma added that currently, companies having the capital can only take the risk of expansion. Citing that 0% MDR with reimbursement would be an ideal move, he said that it would be better for Paytm and other companies if the government reimburses.

MDR, which is usually 1% to 3% of the overall transaction, is the rate charged to a merchant for payment processing services on debit and credit card transactions. The government, in December 2019, had announced that it will be revoking all MDR charges on digital transactions via RuPay and UPI platforms from January 1, 2020.

Burgeoning Mobile Payments

Citing that there has been a boom in the digital payments space, Sharma said that now an average customer is doing more than 10 financial transactions a month. “Mobile payments are becoming mainstream and we are taking it to the masses. There is an immense opportunity in providing our customer base with value-added financial services,” he added.

On when the company is going to go public, Sharma said that Paytm won’t be listed before it turns profitable. However, he further stressed that once the company becomes profitable what is the need to list it.

Speaking about the competition in this space, Sharma said that Paytm has been in there since 2008 and he has seen a lot of companies coming and going. “I have a simple understanding. If we have a business with an incredible amount of customer edge, we’ll build on that,” he added.