The Bhavish Aggarwal-led company has been asked to provide more information by the Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA), which is looking into consumer complaints against Ola Electric. Ola Electric stated in an exchange filing that the consumer protection agency had asked the business for more information and documents. Ola Electric received a show-cause notice from the CCPA in October of this year due to claims of poor customer service, misbehaviour, delayed service and delivery, defective car sales, and numerous other consumer complaints. Ola Electric has confirmed that it will comply with the agency’s 15-day deadline for submitting its response.
Ola Electric Claimed of Resolving 99.1% Cases
On October 21, Ola Electric responded to the notification by stating that 99.1% of the complaints it had received had been handled. But according to a report last month, the Authority discovered that 80% of the purported resolutions were never put into practice. It is important to note that for a significant portion of this year, complaints on social media regarding the functionality of Ola Electric scooters have kept mounting.
Customers complained about unresolved hardware and software problems, poor service, and concerns with the company’s staff on social media platform X. Ola Electric promised to provide a one-day repair guarantee and a backup scooter if the problems are not fixed within a day in order to address this problem earlier this year. The business announced earlier this week that it intends to double its network of corporate-owned stores to 4,000 by December 20 as part of this strategy. According to the company, Ola Electric will run India’s largest EV distribution network, spanning every pin code in the nation, with more than 3,200 new stores scheduled to open.
Gig and S1 Z Range by Ola Electric
Given that India’s gig economy is expected to treble in size and employ over 10 million people in the next years, Ola Electric unveiled a new line of reasonably priced e-scooters last month, with pricing starting at less than INR 40,000. Ola Electric’s stock rose 5.67% and closed the day at INR 73.47 on the BSE, reflecting the positive market reaction.
The new range includes the Ola Gig, which costs INR 39,999 and is designed for gig workers who travel shorter distances. The S1 Z series offers an affordable alternative to the original S1 model, with a starting price of INR 59,999. However, going by current allegations and investigations, Ola Electric needs to battle really hard to attract customers towards these launch products. But in the midst of all of this, Ola Electric’s stock has recently surged on the exchanges. The stock has rebounded in recent weeks after plunging to all-time lows in November. On the BSE, shares of Ola Electric closed the trading session on 5 December 2024 up 0.11% at INR 98.50.
One97 Communications, the parent company of Paytm, has distributed 2.44 lakh equity shares to qualified workers through its different employee stock ownership programmes (ESOPs). During its meeting on December 5, 2024, the company’s nomination and remuneration committee approved the distribution of 244,801 equity shares with a face value of INR 1 each, fully paid up, to eligible employees upon exercise of vested options, according to a filing made by Paytm. Of these, 2,006 shares were distributed under ESOP 2008, while 242,795 shares were awarded under the ESOP 2019 programme. The company’s issued and paid-up equity share capital has increased from INR 63.71 Cr to INR 63.73 Cr (or INR 63,73,82,630 to be exact) as a result of this allocation. The newly allotted shares are worth INR 23.41 Cr based on the stock’s most recent closing price on 5 December 2024.
Giving ESOPs in Massive Capacities
Paytm has been giving out ESOPs in large quantities at the moment. The fintech giant gave its staff members 4 lakh stock options in November. Before that, in October, it granted 4.81 lakh stock options, increasing the size of its ESOP pool. Shares of Paytm have been rising recently. Several broking firms praised the company for reducing losses and increasing income, and a few days ago, the stock reached a new 52-week high of INR 951.90 per share.
Bernstein also boosted its price objective for Paytm from INR 750 per share to INR 1,000, while UBS lifted its price goal from INR 490 per share to INR 1,000. Paytm has unveiled UPI Lite, a new Unified Payments Interface (UPI) product that enables users to set up pin-free automated top-ups for daily payments under INR 500.
Current Financial Dynamics of Paytm
In contrast to the INR 292 Cr loss reported in the same period last year, Paytm declared a consolidated profit after tax (PAT) of INR 930 Cr in the September quarter (Q2) of the fiscal year ending March 2025 (FY25). However, a one-time exceptional gain of INR 1,345 Cr from the sale of its entertainment ticketing business was the reason for the profit. From INR 2,519 Cr in Q2 FY24 to INR 1,660 Cr during the quarter, revenue from operations fell 34% year over year (YoY). On December 5, Paytm’s stock ended the day 1.8% higher on the BSE at INR 956.5.
ESOP’s Popularity is Rising in India’s Startup Sector
As part of their initiatives to reward staff, several modern internet businesses have issued ESOPs this year, including Delhivery, Nykaa, ixigo, and ideaForge, among others. The travel tech business ixigo gave 17.57 lakh stock options last month, while logistics giant Delhivery increased its ESOP pool by allocating 73K stock options. Only a few days after raising INR 8,500 Cr through the placement of eligible institutions—its first significant fundraising effort since its 2021 IPO—Zomato announced its ESOP.
New Delhi [India], December 06: Hafele India is set to make a significant impact at Acetech 2024, reaffirming its dedication to delivering solutions that enhance the value of everyday spaces. With a long legacy of excellence and an ongoing commitment to transforming living and work environments, Hafele empowers customers with versatile, efficient solutions tailored to the evolving needs of modern living. After the grand success of Acetech Mumbai, Hafele continues to lead the way in shaping innovative spaces for the future.
This year, Hafele’s booth centres around the brand purpose,“Maximising the Value of Space. Together,”that was introduced last year. This purpose guides Hafele in creating functional, intelligent, atmospheric, and organised environments that adapt to the unique needs of today’s lifestyles. The purpose has been thoughtfully curated to highlight the shared value of maximising potential, a philosophy championed by Hafele’s brand ambassador, Mr. Sachin Tendulkar. Visitors to the booth will embark on an inviting journey through distinct spaces, designed to create an immersive experience that captures Hafele’s seamless blend of innovation, functionality, and style where they will explore how the company’s solutions cater to every room/space.
Mr. Frank Schloeder, Managing Director of Hafele South Asia, stated, “India is a highly promising and dynamic market brimming with opportunity. Year after year, Hafele has achieved outstanding growth here, and we are excited about expanding further. Being part of Acetech 2024 will also give Hafele an opportunity to showcase multiple products including our curtain raisers and emerging innovations as well as highlight our holistic capability as a brand.”
Here’s a short preview of Hafele’s latest advancements in premium appliances, kitchen systems and fittings, lighting systems, surfaces, and water solutions showcased at Acetech 2024:
Appliances
Luxury Appliances
ASKO Style Series Laundry Solution: Attention to detail and providing innovative solutions for modern living is what sets ASKO appliances apart. The Style series from ASKO encompasses the entire range of laundry care solutions which includes washing machines, tumble dryers, drying cabinets,cook and hidden helpers. These appliances have a full-size front panel made from a single piece of solid steel that surrounds the stylish horizontally brushed aluminium panel.
Falmec’s Shelf 120 cookerhood incorporates a very thin suction element in a shelf structure of only 100 mm thickness, equipped with a removable vane to increase smoke suction capacity. This element with hood function can be enhanced with additional modules to create a versatile hanging furniture system on the wall. Winner of the 2023 Germany Design award, this innovative cookerhood is the icon of concept, high quality of design, innovation and accessibility.
Premium Appliances
Teresa Cookerhoods: First ever cookerhoods with the Filter-Free technology, Teresa cookerhoods offer convenience and a hassle-free experience like never before. Designed with the Indian household in mind, these cookerhoods are efficient, operate with low noise, and are a sustainable solution for seamlessly maintaining clean and comfortable cooking environments.
Cronus Digi-Step Hob: Sporting Digital Multi Timers that can be set separately for each burner, and the Graduated Flame Technology which offers multiple flame level options, Cronus Digi-Step Hobs are very convenient to use and deliver precise cooking results.
Small Kitchen Appliances
Magnus Cold Pressed Juicer: It is designed to work at a much slower pace as compared to a regular juicer and is hence able to extract fruit and vegetable juices without applying heat, the absence of which helps retain a maximum number of nutrients.
U-Kaffee Plus Coffee Machine: It can brew you the most delectable shot of espresso, a rich cappuccino, or a creamy latte – all in the comfort of your own home. So, whileyou sit back and turn on your favourite music, U-Kaffee Plus adeptly works to bring out the best coffee with the perfect aroma versus taste balance.
Lighting Solutions
One Cable: It is a unique furniture lighting solution that offers easy installation into your cabinets. Powered by the Loox 5 drivers, this solution provides a seamless lighting experience across your furniture.
R One Architectural Light: These plug-n-play lights offer a glare-free light output, thanks to the innovative design of the reflector. Featuring multi-white LEDs and integrated Bluetooth Mesh networking, these lights offer a seamless and convenient lighting experience.
Retail Lights: Equipped with high-quality LEDs and narrow refraction angle, Hafele’s Retail lights deliver a focused light output for clear accentuation. With a 360-degree rotation angle and 180-degree vertical pan angle, these lights are most suited for shops and museums.
KitchenFittings
MatrixBox Premium and Premium+ Drawer Systems: This is a robust, functionally efficient, andseamlessly aesthetic solution, the Push-to-open technology for handle-less drawers is enabled by this solution.
MatrixBox Slim Drawer System: With 13 mm thin drawer sides, this solution features simple assembly as well as unrivalled design and flexibility in application. It is suitable for installation in kitchens, bedrooms and bathrooms. MatrixBox Slim comes with 3 height options, 2 side design options (Solid & Décor) and 2 weight carrying capacities (40 & 60 kg); giving you the widest choice for a host of applications.
Free Space: The new Free Space by Hafele offers an innovative stay flap fitting which, with its strong features and universal aesthetics, can be used in furniture across interior spaces. It immediately provides added value and more efficiency when working. Inspired by the requirements of the market of tomorrow, Free space fulfils all demands for creative freedom and choice of material, design, ease of installation, and convenient operation on a whole new level.
Project 2 Aluminium Profiles: A unique modular Aluminium profile system, Project 2 offers both structural stability and seamless aesthetics for your kitchen islands. Crafted in line with the latest design trends, this Aluminium profile system comprises of multiple components that enable a flexible installation experience along with various design possibilities, elevating your kitchen aesthetics.
Vauth Sagel Flex Larder System: It offers a flexible, modular storage solution for organizing cabinet interiors. Whether in the kitchen or utility room, it enables customized storage arrangements to meet typical needs around the hob, oven, sink, or washing machine areas.
Surfaces and Water Solutions
Terra Surfaces: The Terra Range, a Quartz dominated, Hafele’s In-house surface range is composed of colour pigments and binding agents to form a solution that is immensely strong, versatile and creatively workable for a wide array of home applications. It comes with 27 elegant yet contemporary colours that add to the versatility of this range. Cemento, Carbonite, Nebula White, Olympia Gold, Crema Dolce, Bianco Misterio, Crema Champaigne and Pebble are some of its colour options. Each colour has a soul and unique characteristic of its own.
Blanco Range: Long gone are the times when a kitchen was merely used for function, these days it can be the architectural nucleus of your home. Putting this into perspective, Hafele’s range of Silgranit kitchen sinks and faucets by Blanco backed by 60 years of experience and research in market knowledge, engineering proficiency and latest technologies is one of their highlight product ranges. This was conceptualised and created in line with emerging interior trends, engineered for seamless design integration and superior performance in kitchens. Among the standout offerings in this range are the ADIRA, Axia, and Linus S, each showcasing exceptional design and functionality.
The Hafele Booth at Acetech, New Delhi, 2024 promises an interactive experience that will bring visitors closer to our solutions. This approachable setup encourages relatability at all levels, be it a homeowner, a designer or an architect.
Hafele remains committed to enriching living spaces by staying at the forefront of the constantly evolving consumer needs and design trends. Commitment has always been reflected at Hafele’s Acetech Booth, and this year we encourage you to join us at our booth at Acetech 2024 and discover products that embody our dedication to quality, innovation and design excellence.
Hafele India invites you to experience their booth as well as our purpose – Maximising the Value of Space. Together.
Visit them:
On: 12th to 15th December 2024
At: Hafele Booth, Hall 4, Booth no. A4 3,4,5,6, Pragati Maidan, New Delhi.
Log onto hafeleindia.com/en/info/service/contact-us to find the nearest Hafele showroom or design centre. Website: hafeleindia.com
In the world of investing and financial gains, very few stories resonate with people as the story of Vijay Kedia. This self-made trader and investor has been declared a ‘market master’ by the Economic Times because his journey is a testament to showcase a person’s resilience and determination to win against the stock market.
Vijay Kedia is self-taught and learned everything through trial and error. As per him, “Jab khone ke liye kuch nahi hota to pane ke liye puri duniya hoti hai” (When there’s nothing to lose, the entire world is there to gain). His advice to new investors is to be self-aware and understand management. The market is a game driven by knowledge and passion, and he encourages young people to forge their own paths rather than relying on what others are doing and thinking.
According to his wisdom, the idea of overnight wealth is the root of failure in the stock market. He preaches patience and resilience and jokes that in trading only God and liars can buy low and sell high.
Vijay Kedia’s mantra for investments is well-situated, but simple and effective: ‘Invest like a bull, sit like a bear, and watch like an eagle.’ Interestingly, he is not only a good investor but also a mentor and leader. With his rags-to-riches story, Kedia is a beacon of inspiration for young investors and entrepreneurs, that no matter what determination and resilience can help anyone achieve financial success.
Vijay Kedia: Biography
Name
Vijay Kedia
Born
Calcutta
Nationality
Indian
Profession
Trader and Investor Founder and CEO of Kedia Securities Pvt. Ltd. Career guide
Education
Bachelor of Commerce, University of Calcutta Doctorate Degree for Excellence in Management at Confederation of International Accreditation Commission (CIAC)
Vijay Kedia hails from a Marwari family in Kolkata, where he began trading with his grandfather at the age of 14. Tragedy struck in the year 1978 when Vijay’s father passed away when he was still in Class 10. He barely managed to complete his Bachelor’s in Commerce from Calcutta University. From 19 years old he started a stock brokerage business to help support his family. Even though he faced multiple setbacks, Kedia got married and started his own family.
Vijay Kedia: A Rough Start
Financial problems have plagued Kedia from his early days, up to the point where he did not even have enough money to buy milk for his young child. His wife somehow arranged the milk and he even had to sell his mother’s gold ornaments to make ends meet. He suffered multiple losses in the stock market. It even reached a point where he had to live with 6 people in a single room. But he never gave up.
Sadly, he lost his father, Kishanlal Kedia who left for the great beyond when he was in Class 10. He started his stock market work at the age of 19. Still, his family managed to marry him off to Manju Kedia and he has two sons, Pratik and Ankit. As soon as he gets free time, Vijay loves to travel to exotic locations and he is a fitness aficionado. He regularly works out and does yoga and uploads these online to post to his fans.
Vijay Kedia: Career
Vijay Kedia: Career
It was at the mere age of 14 years when interest in the stock market developed within due to his grandfather, and he started trading officially at the age of 19 years. Finally, he left his hometown, Kolkata, after some time and shifted to Mumbai in 1990 to actively participate in the stock market. He initiated his own stock brokerage business to help sustain his family.
He was staying in a room with six other people after he started his business. At the time, he didn’t even make enough to buy milk for his son. 1992 had been very lucky for Kedia. That year the stock market saw a bullish jump and he purchased Punjab tractors’ stock for INR 35 per share. He went on to sell the shares at a 500% premium and used the money to buy ACC shares. The share prices increased by 1000% and he made a sizable profit.
After earning a huge profit, he bought a home in Mumbai and took his family over. But the stock market saw a slump and he lost everything in 2001. Once again the market saw a bullish jump in 2002-2003, and Vijay Kedia went on to consolidate his earnings and assets. In 2004-2005 he invested in three companies – Atul Auto, Cera Sanitaryware, and Aegis Logistics. The stock rates for all three companies increased by 100 times in the following 10-12 years.
In 2012, Kedia anticipated the structural bull run and went on to set up Kedia Securities.
Vijay Kedia strictly follows the SMILE principle (Small in Size, Medium in experience, Large in aspiration, and Extra-large in market potential) when he invests. According to Kedia,“One should scout for companies which have good management… Find a very good management, a very honest management, and see the product in which the management is going to grow, going to outperform its peers and the economy… invest in those companies for the next 10–15 years, and you cannot go wrong.”
He advises new investors to bet big and ride through the difficult time. But he also comments that luck plays a major role in stock market investing along with courage, knowledge, and patience. Currently, Kedia holds stocks in over 15 stocks that is worth over INR 1,971.5 crore.
Company
Mar 2024
Jun 2024
Sep 2024
Value Cr.
Atul Auto Ltd.
20.91
20.91
20.91
318.10
Elecon Engineering Company Ltd.
1.34
1.34
1.29
162.68
Innovators Facade Systems Ltd.
10.66
10.66
10.66
38.00
Mahindra Holidays & Resorts India Ltd.
1.00
1.00
1.00
71.10
Neuland Laboratories Ltd.
1.09
1.09
1.01
193.76
Ramco Systems Ltd.
–
–
–
0.00
Repro India Ltd.
6.34
6.34
6.34
47.29
Siyaram Silk Mills Ltd.
1.00
1.00
1.00
31.12
Sudarshan Chemical Industries Ltd.
1.44
1.44
1.44
96.35
Talbros Automotive Components Ltd.
1.01
–
–
0.00
Tejas Networks Ltd.
1.87
1.87
1.87
409.47
Vaibhav Global Ltd.
2.01
2.02
2.02
92.07
Affordable Robotic & Automation Ltd.
9.93
–
9.93
71.63
Patel Engineering Ltd.
1.55
1.42
–
0.00
Precision Camshafts Ltd.
1.16
1.16
2.10
59.47
Om Infra Ltd.
2.49
2.49
2.49
31.62
Global Vectra Helicorp Ltd.
2.92
4.86
4.86
15.33
Reliance Infrastructure Ltd.
1.01
–
–
0.00
TAC Infosec Ltd.
–
–
10.95
85.20
Vijay Kedia: Achievements and Recognition
Some of the best achievements and recognitions of Vijay Kedia are:
Vijay Kedia was a person who had a fascination with the stock market even when he was 14 years old. He started investing in the stock market at 19 years old.
Vijay Kedia lost his father in 1978 when he was merely in Class 10. His failure in the exam then resulted due to his grief over losing his father.
At one time he did not have enough money to buy milk for his son and had to share one room with 6 people.
As per Kedia, 1992 was a very good year for him. The stock market saw a bullish phase and he invested in Punjab tractors’ stock for only INR 35 per share. He sold these shares for a 500% premium and bought shares of ACC, and the rest is history.
Kedia was ranked as the 13th most Successful Indian Investor by the Business World in 2016.
Kedia is a fitness enthusiast and does yoga to keep himself fit. He shares his yoga sessions on social media.
Vijay has been a keynote speaker for multiple business schools such as IIMs (Ahmedabad, Amritsar, Bangalore), MDI Murshidabad, and London Business School.
“Jab khone ke liye kuch nahi hota to pane ke liye puri duniya hoti hai” – Vijay Kedia
“Always find out the failure story rather than focusing on the success one. Mistakes teach you well.” – Vijay Kedia.
“Invest like a bull, sit like a bear, and watch like an eagle,” – Vijay Kedia
“One should scout for companies which have good management… Find a very good management, a very honest management, and see the product in which the management is going to grow, going to outperform its peers and the economy… invest in those companies for the next 10-15 years, and you cannot go wrong.” – Vijay Kedia.
FAQ
What is the business of Vijay Kedia?
Vijay Kedia is a stock market investor and owner of Kedia Securities.
What is the net worth of Kedia?
Vijay Kedia publicly holds 15 stocks with a net worth of over INR 1,971.5 crore (approx).
What is the qualification of Vijay Kedia?
Vijay Kedia holds a bachelor’s degree in commerce from Calcutta University.
What is the smile principle of investing?
The SMILE principle of investing, coined by Vijay Kedia, stands for:
The quote quoted above is probably my favorite. There is probably not a single day when any person is away from art. Art is so closely aligned with the reality that it is impossible to separate the two things. They are so much together that we cannot imagine these two separated for even a single day of ours. One such art is music. It’s quite a popular way to add a soundtrack to whatever you are doing.
Do you listen to music? Dude, what kind of question is that? Everyone listens to music. This is quite true; no one asks these sorts of questions. Do you now like to directly ask about what is your most liked genre? Speaking of music, the most famous music provider/streamer is Spotify.
Spotify never leaves a stone unturned to make customers woo. Interestingly, much like Spotify’s strategies, gaining more TikTok followers can also be achieved through engaging content and clever marketing tactics. Many brands leverage influencer partnerships to increase their reach, thus effectively expanding their audience base on TikTok. They do their most popular marketing campaign called “Spotify wrapped” and many cool tricks to make its user retention an all-time high. This article is just about that specifically and especially of all the marketing tactics. We will discuss how the Spotify Wrapped Campaign has managed to hit the right note with music lovers all around the world.
“Art is the lie that enables us to realize the truth.” ― Pablo Picasso
You would be living under a rock if you didn’t know what Spotify is. We all know that Spotify is an audio streaming platform available on all devices all over the world. Surprisingly, Spotify was founded in 2006, and in such a short span of time, it has become the most popular streaming service in the world.
Spotify has made a place in the hearts of audiophiles all around the world. The reason is the fact that they are a music streaming platform and everyone is a music lover. Also, they are famous for their wacky advertising marketing faces and exact usage of consumer psychology for that matter.
Once you sign up for this audio streaming service and begin using it, they will notice your listening habits. As you go about interacting more and more with Spotify, listening to music and podcasts, Spotify will get to know you more.
With all these data inputs, Spotify suggests more songs and creates personalized playlists for you. This personalization is absolutely loved by people who use Spotify; the fact that they can discover a new jam every now and then, based on Spotify’s intelligence, just connects with the audience.
Let us know how this works, and then we will later jump to how the “Spotify Wrapped” works.
The Fluidity in Spotify
When we talk about a business operating in the area of music, then we can think of the massive audience that they have to cater to. For the record, it is true that Spotify has to cater to a huge audience, but whatever they do in their marketing upfront, it is not messy at all. The point that I am trying to uncover here is that Spotify has fluidity in its works. They know that things can get super boring super fast for people of this generation, so it is imperative to experiment bit by bit.
This fluidity in their marketing team helps them to garner consumers and thus make them a paying member of their line of work. Elegant use of consumer psychology often works in this quest for customer retention. Let us see a bit about how this segment works,
Consumer Psychology
Spotify Monthly Active Users Worldwide (Q1 2021 – Q3 2024)
Consumer behavior or consumer psychology is the study of individuals, groups of individuals, and all the activities and thinking processes. It is mainly associated with the purchase, sale, use, and disposal of goods and even services. Consumer behavior also consists of how emotions, attitudes, and other preferences affect consumers’ buying behavior. This also includes the hit-and-trial method of getting customers loyal. This experiment makes corporations learn more about customers and thus retain and make more the retention of people transacting with firms. It is a very common practice in this internet era.
Spotify is high on artificial intelligence and machine learning. They know the patterns that you listen to music too; they know every input needed to suggest the next song. These inputs allow quite everything at the Spotify headquarters. ‘Listening is everything’ is the motto of this audio streamer. While you listen to songs that they provide, they listen to your listening patterns. They thus create a pattern that can eventually predict your mood and the genre of music you may want to listen to in the future.
There are half a billion people that listen to music online and the vast majority are doing so illegally. But if we bring those people over to the legal side and Spotify, what is going to happen is we are going to double the music industry and that will lead to more artists creating great new music. – Daniel Ek (Founder and CEO at Spotify)
Daniel knew very well that the music market was hugely scattered in many directions. To organize music lovers from all over the world, he knew he needed to take support of technology. So he chose the top-notch and what we call state-of-the-art machine learning. Organizing the market into an industry that has streaming as a habit takes a lot of muscle.
Years of deliberate practice and features like “Discover Weekly” and monthly reels put them high on the charts. At this point in time, Spotify has emerged as the best player among audio streaming service providers. This also shows how the behavior of the general public all over the world has changed. The song, music, and artiste industry went up a huge scale and turned from being an unorganized sector to a well-organized sector. This growth is notable, and Spotify is heading the efforts.
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Spotify Wrapped is the ultimate amalgamation of machine learning and your musical tastes. These two things on the plate create real magic. People yearn for this magic, and Spotify is the head of this department for this magic in the whole world. They started doing wraps up for its users in the year 2016.
Spotify Wrapped from that year became a hit viral marketing technique for Spotify. The wrap includes all the songs users have been listening to in the past year, the genre they were the most into, and their favorite artists, along with minutes streamed and other data. It included the top five musicians that users have listened to. Moreover, it is not just another marketing campaign but a huge viral social media campaign.
Every year, millions of Spotify users share their Spotify wrapped to their social media profiles, which boosts Spotify. In the app store, the Spotify app has historically seen a jump at the end of the year because it is released at the end of the year.
Spotify sends an email to every person who is eligible for the year inwrapped. For many people, this email is their favorite email of the year. It has become some kind of ritual for all audiophiles/music streamers all over the world.
The reason people love this form of advertising is that it is too personal. This personal touch (obviously in a very good way) is made possible with the advent of technology. This personalization made Spotify the brand that it is today. The moment you click the link, they will begin showing you the year-wrapped reel.
Beginning with words like “If 2021 was a movie, you were the main character”. Dude! That’s encouraging. Then comes the next page showing how many new artists you discovered this year. Then comes the top genres you listened to the most and how many genres you discovered. Then, the most-streamed song/single and the most-streamed day. How can we explain this without using the word “Awesome”?
How is Spotify Wrapped Made
The purpose of the “Spotify Wrapped” campaign is simple: to promote the music streaming platform. Spotify, however, says that “wrapped” is a way of returning the favor to Spotify users for the past year. This way, users get to know more about their musical tastes, and the data can be helpful in rediscovering music again. It is a win-win situation for both the streaming giant as well as the music listeners. Whatever the purpose, the Spotify Wrapped campaign fulfills the needs of both the provider and the receiver in this transaction in this manner.
As people were wrapping up a year, Spotify thought bigger and better. The whole damn thought of wrapping a full decade. They tried to put together all the hit tracks of the past decade in a single playlist and tried to create magic out of this. The reactions were amazing, and their video got great views. This was done in the dreadful year 2020. Spotify truly knows how to set the background soundtrack right.
Features of Spotify Wrapped
Spotify Wrapped provides insights into your music preferences, top artists, genres, fun trivia, and statistics. Here are some of the key features of Spotify Wrapped:
Your Listening Personality: Spotify Wrapped assigns you a “Listening Personality” based on your listening habits. This personality type is determined by your genre diversity, listening time, and the time of day you typically listen to music.
Your Artist Revealed: The feature displays your year’s top 5 artists and listening habits. You’ll see statistics like total listening time for each artist, their top songs, and the time you listen to them.
Your Top Songs and Genres: Spotify Wrapped reveals your top five songs and genres of the year. You’ll also see statistics like the total minutes spent listening to each song and genre and the top artists within each genre.
Artist Message: Personalize Wrapped with “Your Artist Message” from top artists. Explore video messages in Wrapped, like Taylor Swift and Jung Kook. Use Blend to compare music with friends and let Spotify’s AI DJ share insights.
Your Music Evolution This feature highlights how your music tastes evolved throughout the year. It identifies distinct musical phases with descriptors, genres, and artists, along with a personalized playlist that combines favorites with new recommendations.
AI DJ The AI DJ provides commentary on your music listening habits, offering insights into your top tracks and artists of the year. This feature is now available in both English and Spanish.
AI Playlist Premium users can create custom playlists based on prompts like “my top genres” or “artists similar to my top artists,” powered by Spotify’s AI.
Your Top Artist Reimagined Fans can now see their longest listening streak with their favorite artist and learn what percentage of listeners they fall into globally.
Your Music Videos Playlist In regions where music videos are in beta, Premium users get a curated playlist featuring music videos of their most loved artists from 2024.
Expanded Artist and Podcaster Messages Hear from more of your top artists and podcast creators, including stars like Billie Eilish, Usher, and creators from popular podcasts like Crime Junkie and Anything Goes.
How to Find Spotify Wrapped
To find your Spotify Wrapped 2024, ensure your Spotify app is updated to the latest version on iOS or Android. Open the app, and you’ll see the Wrapped feed on your Home screen, where you can explore your personalized listening highlights, including top songs, artists, genres, and more. Alternatively, visit Spotify.com/Wrapped to scan the QR code and access your Wrapped experience in the app. This feature is free and available to all Spotify users.
Why Spotify Wrapped is Popular
Spotify introduced its initial year-end review, “Year in Review,” in 2013, utilizing streaming data. The concept evolved into “Wrapped” by 2016, incorporating unique features like “audio auras” and “listening personality types” derived from user data.
Wrapped’s personalized insights, visualizations, and gamification features make it highly engaging for users. Comparing listening habits with friends adds extra excitement to the fun and interesting statistics.
Spotify Wrapped promotes social sharing among users, creating a sense of community as they share their music preferences on social media.
Wrapped’s “Artist Engagement” feature lets top artists send personalized messages to fans, creating an exclusive and engaging experience.
Wrapped is a cultural phenomenon eagerly awaited by users each year, demonstrating its personal resonance.
Spotify Wrapped 2024
Spotify Wrapped 2024 is here, offering fans a fun and personalized way to look back at their last year’s music taste. This year, new features like Your Music Evolution reveal how your musical tastes changed. Spotify’s amazing and cool feature, AI DJ provides commentary about your top songs and artists. Premium users can create custom playlists with the new AI Playlist tool, and fans can enjoy special messages from top artists like Billie Eilish and KAROL G.
Wrapped also integrates more deeply into the app, showing how your favorite content ranks in your listening history. You can also share your results in the Spotify Wrapped easily on social media and messaging apps. For creators, Wrapped provides insights into fan engagement, and exclusive partnerships, like with FC Barcelona, bring Wrapped moments to life off-platform.
When everyone knows that the human attention span has reduced a lot, this calls for a modern solution. As the meme would say, “Modern problems require modern solutions.” The news for the hour is meme marketing.
Wacky advertisements can leave a mark on the conscience of people wandering online and elsewhere. CRED does it, Spotify does it, and every smart company does it. Okay, every smart company who knows the power of humor does it. Here are some examples: Though it is time for Christmas, audiophiles must be waiting for their Spotify-wrapped year reel. Spotify added a little fun marketing ping to it. They made promotional videos featuring famous songs of the year. By famous songs, we mean the most streamed songs of the year.
Spotify India – Love Lesson 101
Here is one example of the blockbuster “Lambiyaan.” The description read – “If 2021 was an exam, spending the nights with Raatan Lambiyan always felt like the right answer! Find out more about the music you listened to in 2021 with #SpotifyWrapped”.
Spotify Wrapped Marketing Campaign
Spotify India – Dil Filmy Toh Suno Filmy
Another promotional video starred the song “Nadiyon paar,” which was also a hit this year. It was streamed millions of times. They also have a marketing campaign named ‘Dil filmy to suno filmy’. It shares the love of Bollywood songs with the general public. While showcasing the basic human tendency to humm a song that you heard somewhere, here, have a look at one of the videos.
Spotify Wrapped Marketing Campaign
Spotify India – Music Magic Hai
Spotify Music Magic Hai Ad
In Spotify’s “Music Magic Hai” ad, a dad is driving his daughters to school while a Punjabi song plays. The girls start grooving to the music, and the dad, caught up in the energy, joins in too. The catchy tagline, “Jo daddy ko daddy cool bnade voh music magic hai,” highlights how music has the power to turn an ordinary moment into something fun.
The fact that they connected two things to each other makes the recipe for perfect videos. They connected trending soundtracks to everyday situations that people faced. That became the perfect recipe for these videos to strike a chord with streamers. Their use of consumer behavior is helping them garner more views and more streams and downloads.
Conclusion
The very first principle that Spotify follows is the “rule of personalization”. They know that personalized marketing boosts customer loyalty. Through this feature of ‘Year wrapped,’ they are trying to do the same. If they manage to get a personalized touch to every single person using Spotify, then it will go a long way and become a huge factor in driving sales and revenue.
This has been made possible via the help of new-age technologies like machine learning and better management of user data. Needless to say, this viral marketing campaign has gone a long way into audiophiles’ hearts.
Not only this, but this is also can be said to be a major motivator for selling subscription plans to users of Spotify. A popular quote goes like this: “Data is 21st century’s gold”. This is the golden rule for companies that try to give personalized services to their consumers. Spotify is not an exception, and what it is doing with data is quite magically promising and thoughtful.
FAQs
Is Spotify Wrapped only for premium users?
No, Spotify wrapped is for both premium and free users.
How does Spotify create Wrapped?
Spotify tracks users’ listening habits from the period from January 1 to October 31 and then compiles it into a playlist at the end of the year.
When did Spotify launch the Spotify Wrapped marketing campaign?
Spotify released the viral marketing campaign ‘Spotify Wrapped’ in 2016.
What was Spotify using to market the “Wrapped” promotion?
Spotify uses a multifaceted marketing strategy to promote its annual “Wrapped” campaign. This includes social media integration, email marketing, targeted advertising, and more.
Why is Spotify Wrapped so successful?
Spotify Wrapped is successful because it is personalized, social, and engaging. It allows users to see their listening habits in a fun and interesting way, and it encourages them to share their results with friends.
Company Profile is an initiative by StartupTalky to publish verified information on different startups and organizations. The content in this post has been approved by Uniphore.
The power of AI cannot be underestimated in today’s times. We are living in a world where almost everything is automated through a wide range of AI and other automation tools and technologies.
The introduction of conversational automation is invented to automate customer services and other mundane tasks to deliver a quality service experience. The most special feature of conversational automation is that it automates both conversations and processes.
Uniphore is one of the leading conversational automation technology companies in India today. The company was founded in 2008 by Umesh Sachdev and Ravi Saraogi.
Uncover details on Uniphore’s industry, founders, business and revenue model, funding and investors, and more in this article.
Uniphore – Company Highlights
Startup Name
Uniphore
Headquarters
Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India and Palo Alto, California, USA
Uniphore is a conversational AI platform meant to deliver conversational analytics, conversational assistants, and conversational security to support enterprises in having transformational customer service experiences. Its solutions assist up to 75,000 customer support representatives during about 160 million monthly interactions. With the trinity of voice AI, computer vision, and tonal emotion, the company is transforming communications.
Uniphore is also engaged in offering AI solutions in the areas of Emotional Intelligence to help enterprises resolve disagreements with the help of Emotional AI technology. In addition, it provides Knowledge AI, which is a platform combined with advanced conversational AI technologies to offer all the updated information needed by customers, without them struggling to go through irrelevant information.
Uniphore also provides a Real-Time Coaching Agent. It is a new method to empower companies’ customer service agents to be successful, allowing them to be more productive and efficient, faster, reduce their stress and anxiety, and improving not just their own but also their customers’ experiences.
Uniphore has dual headquarters in Palo Alto, California, USA and Chennai, India with several other offices in countries like Singapore, Japan, Spain, and Israel.
Uniphore – Industry
There is no denying that the technology industry, especially AI and automation is increasing at a rapid rate. The worldwide conversational AI market is expected to develop at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 22.4% from $12.24 billion in 2024 to $61.69 billion by 2032.
Umesh Sachdev and Ravi Saraogi are the founders of Uniphore.
Umesh Sachdev
Umesh Sachdev – Co-founder and CEO of Uniphore
A modern-day entrepreneur, Umesh Sachdev is the co-founder and CEO of Uniphore. As a young dynamic leader with a pedigree from IITM, Umesh’s unwavering commitment to new technologies has earned him global recognition as the only Indian to be named one of Time Magazine’s 10 “Next Generation Leaders” in 2016, in addition to being a winner of the India Edition of MIT Tech Review ‘Innovators Under 35’ and a Ted Talk speaker. He attended Jaypee Institute of Information Technology and RK Puram Delhi Public School. Umesh was recognised as a creative entrepreneur by the Ministry of Science and Technology’s Technopreneur Promotion Programme (TePP) in 2009.
Ravi Saraogi
Ravi Saraogi – Co-founder and President of Asia Pacific for Uniphore
Ravi Saraogiis the co-founder of Uniphore and is also the President of Asia Pacific for Uniphore Software Systems. His main responsibility revolves around cultivating recruits for deep technology and other automation solutions in the company. Ravi is presently a member of the Mobile Payment Forum of India (MPFI), where he finds and develops mobile payment business prospects. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Information Technology from the Jaypee University of Information Technology.
Uniphore – Startup Story
Uniphore was founded in 2008 and incubated at the Indian Institute of Technology Madras. In the initial days, the company mainly focused on the development of AI solutions, especially on contact centres or call centres, the main medium used by big enterprises such as airlines and banks to manage customer service. During the process, the founders realised that the power of vernacular speech is not given much attention in human communication. In India, many people are more comfortable talking in their local language. This factor gave them the idea to introduce speech recognition in Indian languages.
After a few years, things changed in 2017 for Uniphore, when Umesh Sachdev pitched his firm and ideas at an MIT event in New Delhi. John Chambers, one of the most notable guests present, heard his pitch. Through Chambers’s guidance, Sachdev decided to move the base operations of Uniphore, the call centres-based AI startup to the USA.
The very renowned, John Thomas Chambers, the former CEO and chairman of Cisco Systems, acquired a 10% stake in Uniphore in 2017 at a $30 million valuation.
Uniphore’s logo is simple yet super elegant. Its logo shows a colour transition from orange to pink which makes for an attractive colour gradient.
Uniphore – Mission and Vision
The vision of Uniphore says, ” Be the defining conversational AI and automation platform to realize the value of every enterprise conversation.”
Our mission: Give each customer a voice. Why? Because #customerservice is broken.
Uniphore – Business Model
Uniphore operates on B2B software as a service-based subscription fee model. Previously, it had a license fee-based income model. The business of Uniphore mainly operates by offering four core services: U-Analyze, U-Self-Serve, U-Trust, and U-Assist. According to the company, its purpose is to augment, not replace the efforts of call centre employees. The company operates on two core technologies – speech recognition & voice biometrics.
Looking briefly at the main services provided by Uniphore:
U-Analyze
U-Analyze, previously known as auMina is Uniphore’s speech analytics software that assists enterprises in identifying customer problems by studying consumer dynamics and call centre interactions using natural language processing. It monitors agents’ in-call movements and optimises training programmes using artificial intelligence and data analysis.
U-Trust
U-Trust by Uniphore is a speech biometrics software that allows users to validate their identity when working remotely by using their voice. Clients can authenticate and monitor agents with the help of voice biometrics.
U-Self Serve
Uniphore also has voice response software known as U-Self Serve previously known as Akeira. It is a voice recognition software and virtual assistant that helps firms automate customer support.
U-Assist
U-Assist by Uniphore employs deep learning AI models to give real-time help, such as transcriptions and notifications during conversations. It also aids in the automation of dispositions and other post-call tasks.
Uniphore offers these conversation automation solutions to sectors like Banking, BPO, Telecom, and Healthcare.
There are reports that international banking groups in more than 60 countries have been said to have reduced the stress of compliance auditing by 50% by using Uniphore’s interaction analytics software.
The company typically generates revenue by offering automation software to various clients in Banking, BPO, Telecom, and Healthcare. Uniphore has made a revenue of Rs $88.1 million with over 150K customers in 2022.
Uniphore – Funding and Investors
Uniphore has received $620.9 million in investment through eight rounds. Their most recent fundraising came in the form of a Series E round on February 16, 2022, which made the company a unicorn startup in India, raising its valuation to $2.5 billion. Uniphore is backed by a group of 22 investors. The most recent investors are GoldenArc Capital and March Capital.
Uniphore, a global AI leader, has partnered with Konecta, a CX and digital services giant, to accelerate AI-powered solutions globally.
Uniphore – Growth
Financials
Uniphore Financials
FY22
FY23
Operating Revenue
INR 674.6 crore
INR 488.4 crore
Total Expenses
INR 694.1 crore
INR 492.7 crore
Profit/Loss
Profit of INR 33.4 crore
Profit of INR 142.7 crore
Uniphore Financials
Uniphore – Advertisements and Campaigns
Uniphore is quite active on its YouTube by posting various educational videos based on its products such as U-analyse, U-Self Serve, etc.
Their videos talk about how their product works and how it can benefit organisations.
Uniphore – Awards and Achievements
Uniphore has won the award in the Innovation in Data Science Category for their U-Analyse product at the 9th edition of the Aegis Graham Bell Award 2019.
Uniphore has been awarded the 2021 Frost & Sullivan Global Technology Innovation Leadership Award in Conversational Automation.
It was awarded the best product company in the Analytics Solutions category for 2018 at the 6th edition of Express IT Awards.
After reaching a valuation of $2.5 billion, Uniphore has plans to expand its horizon with customer needs through its Emotion AI platform and seeks to have more refined existing products. The company wants to rebuild its products to improve its customer’s expectations. It has a full-fledged plan to improve the inventions in its Emotion AI platform.
FAQs
How does Uniphore work?
Uniphore is a conversational AI platform meant to deliver conversational analytics, conversational assistants, and conversational security to support enterprises in having transformational customer service experiences.
What is conversational AI?
Conversational AI is a kind of artificial intelligence. It simply allows people to interact with computer applications in the same way as they would interact with humans.
Is Uniphore a unicorn?
Uniphore is a unicorn startup in India. The startup raised $400 million in a Series E round of funding, raising its valuation to $2.5 billion in February 2022.
Is Uniphore an Indian company?
Uniphore is an Indian company, founded by Umesh Sachdev and Ravi Saraogi with dual headquarters in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India and Palo Alto, California, USA.
The global healthcare industry is valued at more than $10 trillion and is expanding rapidly. One of the key factors driving this increase is the growing demand for skilled professionals all around the world. One name that is standing out and is working to make a meaningful impact in this field is Academically Global.
Founded by Dr. Akram Ahmad, Academically Global is a healthcare EdTech platform that helps healthcare professionals pass licensing exams and secure high-paying jobs abroad. Dr. Akram, through his digital channels, has helped over 600,000 healthcare professionals with knowledge and guidance about licensure exams.
In this article, you’ll learn about Academically Global, its founder, how it started, challenges, growth, and more.
Academically Global – Company Highlights
Company Name
Academically Global
Headquarters
Sydney, Australia, Corporate Office – Dehradun, India (Other offices in Delhi and Hyderabad)
Academically Global is a pioneering Healthcare EdTech platform designed to empower healthcare professionals by providing a comprehensive solution for those seeking global career opportunities. The brand stands at the intersection of education, technology, and career advancement, offering end-to-end services that include training for foreign licensure exams, personalized learning modules, migration pathway guidance, document verification, and job placement assistance. It is dedicated to making the world a more connected and cohesive place for healthcare professionals, enabling them to move where their skills are most needed.
Academically Global – Industry
Academically Global operates in the healthcare EdTech industry, focusing on healthcare professionals looking to migrate abroad. With a global market comprising millions of professionals, the company aims to capture a significant share through its innovative AI-powered learning solutions and comprehensive career services. The healthcare migration and licensure industry is expected to grow as international healthcare systems demand skilled professionals. In five years, Academically Global sees itself as the global leader in this sector, providing 360-degree career solutions for healthcare professionals worldwide.
Dr. Akram Ahmad is the founder and CEO of Academically Global.
Dr. Akram Ahmad, Founder and CEO of Academically Global
Dr. Akram’s journey from a small village in Uttar Pradesh to becoming a global healthcare mentor is truly inspiring. He holds a Bachelor of Pharmacy (BPharm) from SHUATS and a Doctor of Pharmacy (PharmD) from Annamalai University. He also earned a PhD from the Faculty of Medicine and Health at the University of Sydney, Australia, where he was awarded a full scholarship.
In 2022, Dr. Akram founded Academically Global, an EdTech platform that has helped thousands of healthcare professionals with licensure exams, migration guidance, and job placements in countries like Australia, Canada, and the UK.
Academically Global – Startup Story
Born into a farming family in Sahaswan, Uttar Pradesh, Dr. Akram Ahmad’s journey is one of perseverance and ambition. His early dream of opening a medical store in his village evolved into a global mission. His parents’ sacrifices, including his mother selling ancestral land for his education, fueled his determination to succeed despite challenges like learning English at a Hindi-medium school.
A turning point came during his PharmD studies in Tamil Nadu, where a lecture by an American guest speaker inspired him to explore global healthcare opportunities. This ambition led him to a research role in Malaysia, catching international attention and earning a full PhD scholarship at the University of Sydney.
While working on his PhD thesis, Dr. Akram noticed a troubling trend: many skilled healthcare professionals from countries like India were unable to navigate the complex licensing exams and procedures needed to practice in their new countries. As a result, many of them were stuck in menial jobs, unable to utilize their skills and qualifications. This realization ignited a deep sense of responsibility in him to make a difference.
Dr. Akram began by sharing his knowledge through YouTube videos, offering advice on licensing exams, migration pathways, and career opportunities abroad. The response was overwhelming, revealing a vast, untapped need for this kind of guidance. In 2022, he turned this passion into action by founding Academically Global, a pioneering Healthcare EdTech platform dedicated to helping healthcare professionals pass their licensing exams and secure high-paying jobs in countries such as Australia, New Zealand, Canada, the UK, Ireland, and the Middle East.
Academically Global – Mission and Vision
Academically Global’s initial vision was to address the gaps in the global healthcare ecosystem, particularly regarding mobility across countries. They wanted to create a system where healthcare professionals could practice where they desired, based on their skills and enthusiasm, without being hindered by a lack of knowledge or resources.
This vision remains unchanged. It strives to be the go-to platform for healthcare professionals seeking to migrate and practice in their desired country. Academically Global’s goal is to assist them in completing their registration and setting up their practice, regardless of their origin. The team continues to work tirelessly towards this vision.
Academically Global – Products/Services
Why One Should Choose Academically Global
Academically Global, under the leadership of Dr. Akram Ahmad, CEO, and Founder, is transforming healthcare education as the first EdTech platform to provide 360-degree comprehensive services for healthcare professionals aspiring to build careers abroad. The platform offers tailored training for foreign licensure exams, migration pathway guidance, document verification, and job placements—all consolidated under one roof. It serves professionals such as doctors, dentists, pharmacists, optometrists, physiotherapists, and lab technicians, facilitating their smooth integration into international healthcare systems.
What truly sets Academically Global apart is its adaptive AI-driven learning. The organization has developed proprietary in-house technology that delivers personalized learning experiences based on individual performance. This AI system adapts to each user’s strengths and weaknesses, ensuring focused improvements for exams. Additionally, the platform uses AI to create customized mock tests, offering real-time feedback to optimize exam readiness. This innovative application of AI not only enhances learning outcomes but also streamlines the preparation process, providing a smarter and more efficient pathway to success in international healthcare careers.
The revenue generation model of Academically Global includes:
Individual Courses: Charging for access to individual courses designed to help healthcare professionals pass licensing exams.
Cross-Selling and Upselling: Offering additional resources and advanced courses to enhance students’ learning experience and career prospects.
Career Services: Providing career counseling, resume reviews, and job placement assistance to help professionals secure high-paying jobs in global healthcare markets.
Academically Global – Challenges Faced
Academically Global faced its fair share of challenges:
Pioneering a Groundbreaking Concept with a Bootstrapped Approach
When Academically Global was launched, there was no existing model to follow. The mission was to create a platform that not only provided licensure exam preparation but also offered migration advice, job placement support, and career counseling—all under one roof. Despite the challenges of being bootstrapped, remaining independent allowed for agility and swift adaptation to the needs of healthcare professionals worldwide.
Leaping into the Unknown and Gaining Global Trust
Stepping away from a stable position as a Government Medical Research Scientist in Australia to launch Academically Global was a bold move into uncharted territory, driven by the need to address the real challenges faced by healthcare professionals. Over time, this leap into the unknown resulted in a global platform that has earned the trust of students from over 75 countries. This widespread trust reflects the platform’s growing impact, as more professionals see firsthand how it transforms careers and lives across the healthcare sector.
Building a World-Class Faculty and Personalized Learning Experience
A critical factor in the success of Academically Global has been the recruitment of a world-class faculty. International instructors who have successfully qualified in the exams they teach were brought on board, ensuring that students receive expert guidance from professionals with firsthand experience. This approach has elevated the platform’s credibility and earned the confidence of healthcare professionals preparing for licensure exams.
Additionally, the development of a learning system tailored to the diverse needs of healthcare professionals was a major challenge. Recognizing that a one-size-fits-all solution wouldn’t be effective, an adaptive AI-driven personalized learning module was introduced. This system adapts to the individual needs of each student, whether a beginner or an experienced professional, ensuring that learning remains accessible and impactful for all.
Academically Global – Marketing Strategy
The most successful marketing strategy for Academically Global has been leveraging Dr. Akram’s personal brand and story, particularly through social media channels like YouTube and Instagram. The personal connection Dr. Akram establishes with his audience, combined with the success stories from the platform, has made this a highly effective approach for boosting sales and user engagement.
Academically Global is experiencing 25% quarter-on-quarter revenue growth and is on track to hit INR 200 crore in the next two years. It has over 600,000 users and has helped 3,000+ healthcare professionals settle abroad in countries like Australia, New Zealand, Canada, and the UK.
Academically Global – Funding
Academically Global is currently bootstrapped. The self-funded approach has provided the flexibility to develop a user-centric platform without external pressures.
Academically Global – Recognitions and Achievements
Dr. Akram Ahmad, Founder of Academically Global, was featured in Business World’s 40 Under 40 in Healthcare 2024, highlighting his exceptional contributions to the healthcare sector.
Academically Global – Future Plans
Academically Global aims to expand its reach and become the most trusted brand for licensing exam preparation. The focus will be on helping healthcare professionals across the globe succeed in their careers by offering comprehensive support.
FAQs
What is Academically Global?
Academically Global is a pioneering Healthcare EdTech platform designed to empower healthcare professionals by providing a comprehensive solution for those seeking global career opportunities.
Who is the founder of Academically Global?
Dr. Akram Ahmad is the founder and CEO of Academically Global.
What is Academically Global’s revenue generation model?
Academically Global’s revenue generation model includes:
Individual Courses: Charging for access to individual courses.
Cross-Selling and Upselling Strategies
Career Services: Offering career counseling, resume reviews, and job placement assistance.
For more than INR 450 Cr, Amazon India has purchased a 38.18-acre plot of land in Palava, close to Mumbai, from Lodha Group, a company known as Macrotech Developers, with plans to construct a hyperscale data centre.
According to a media report, the previously approved floor space index, which has a development potential of around 4.16 million square feet, will be made available to Amazon Data Services India, a division of Amazon India.The report also stated that when the sale agreement was executed and registered, Amazon Data Services India paid Macrotech Developers more than INR 396 Cr of the entire agreed sum. Once a few requirements are met, the remaining amount of more than INR 54 Cr will be paid.
Amazon Expanding its Data Centres Globally
According to data analytics firm Propstack, which was quoted in the story, the corporation also paid INR 27 Cr in stamp duty for the deal’s November 12 registration. This development coincides with Amazon‘s plans to build more data centres worldwide. In order to modernise and expand cloud infrastructure in India to match the increasing demand, Amazon Web Services (AWS), the company’s cloud division, announced more than a year ago that it will invest $12.7 billion in data centre infrastructure by 2030.
In light of this, in September, AWS was in talks to invest $2 billion in Telangana to increase the state’s capacity for data centres. Two data centre infrastructures have been opened by AWS thus far, one in the Hyderabad region and one in the Mumbai region.
Expansion is Aligned with India’s Growing Digital Economy
According to sources, the business has made significant investments to expand its data centres in Saudi Arabia, the UK, Italy, and other nations. The rapid growth of India’s digital economy, where the majority of people have access to digital learning platforms, social media, e-commerce, digital transactions, online gaming, and streaming services, is driving up demand for dependable data processing and storage capabilities, which explains the growing interest in data centres.
Global tech companies have made significant investments in data centres, and both Google and Microsoft are interested in purchasing land in India. In addition, the data centre market in India is anticipated to rise steadily at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 5.84%, reaching an estimated $9.27 billion by 2027.
The property registration documents obtained by CRE Matrix show that in November 2024, Equinix India Pvt Ltd, a US-based data centre company, paid INR 155 crore for 5,597 sq m (1.38 acres) of land in the Chandivali neighbourhood of Mumbai. According to the records, the land lot and the building, which has a total built-up area of 5,386 square meters, have been purchased.
In the first half of the year, the nation’s overall data centre stock increased by 21%, according to a report by Savills India. With a commanding 54.9% of the total capacity, Mumbai was in first place, followed by Chennai (12.3%), Bengaluru (8.2%), and Pune (7.2%).
A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) has been inked by the Commerce Ministry’s Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) and B2B e-commerce platform Moglix to offer manufacturing firms 12-month incubation support. More than 25 growth-stage firms in the automotive, green energy, chemicals, and infrastructure industries will receive help from the program.
Via Credlix, its NBFC arm, startups will have access to Moglix’s mentor network, supply chain infrastructure, and financial support. DPIIT will expand the programme’s reach through its Startup India ecosystem, which will make it easier for startups to adopt, share resources, and reach a national audience.
The Collaboration Aims To Nurture and Guide Manufacturing Startups
Sanjiv Singh, Joint Secretary, DPIIT, discussed the partnership and stated that startups are driving India’s technological and economic advancement. This Memorandum of Understanding with Moglix demonstrates DPIIT’s dedication to promoting entrepreneurship, innovation, and the development of a robust manufacturing environment in line with India’s goal of independence.
According to a statement from Moglix, the programme will also give businesses access to resources, funding possibilities, and partnerships so they may develop globally competitive goods.
This partnership is a game-changer for India’s manufacturing industry. Rahul Garg, founder and CEO of Moglix, stated that the partnership seeks to create a sustainable, innovation-driven manufacturing economy that empowers entrepreneurs and supports India’s goal of becoming a global manufacturing hub by fusing Moglix’s technological know-how with DPIIT’s strategic direction.
Moglix Focuses on Solving Issues Related to Supply Chain and Manufacturing Sector
With a current valuation of $2.6 billion, Moglix supports 3,000 industries and more than 1,000 major manufacturers while providing over 7 lakh industrial commodities. Moglix’s commitment to improving supply chains and resolving issues faced by manufacturing companies in their growth stages is demonstrated by this partnership. It aligns with India’s national goals of becoming a global industrial leader and boosting the GDP contribution of the manufacturing sector.
The development occurs at a time when several businesses are setting up accelerators and incubators to support the nation’s startups. Two new firms were added to the first cohort of the KRAFTON India Gaming Incubator last month by the South Korean game company KRAFTON’s India division. Before that, Vivek Raina, a cofounder of internet service provider Excitel, started an incubator to support businesses in Jammu & Kashmir.
The vibrant Indian startup scene, which has generated over $154 billion in funding between 2014 and September 2024, is at the centre of it all. There are 112 soonicorns and 118 unicorns in the nation. Up to 31 Indian startups have listed on the bourses, with a thriving ecosystem that includes almost 10,000 investors.
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) raised the UPI Lite wallet limit from INR 2,000 to INR 5,000 in an effort to further boost the nation’s adoption of digital payments. On December 4, the central bank also declared that the offline transaction limit for the UPI Lite service would be raised from the existing INR 500 to INR 1,000 per transaction. The new restrictions will take effect right away.
RBI Amends its Framework
As a result of the RBI’s amendment to its framework for facilitating minor value digital payments in offline mode, the new changes were implemented. The framework stipulates, among other things, that a payment instrument may not exceed INR 2,000 in total at any given moment and that the maximum amount for offline digital payment transactions is INR 500. According to the notification, the offline framework has been modified, and the increased limitations for UPI Lite are INR 1,000 per transaction, with INR 5,000 being the maximum limit at any given time.
Launched in 2022, UPI Lite allows customers to conduct small-value transactions online without a PIN or internet connection. The solution allows offline debit for payments but only allows credits to be made once the user is online, avoiding the need for a bank’s basic banking systems in real-time. This comes a few months after the central bank announced plans to raise the UPI Lite transaction ceiling to INR 1,000 following the October meeting of its Monetary Policy Committee.
Next to Increase Per Transaction Limit of UPI123 Pay
Additionally, the RBI had stated that the existing INR 5,000 per transaction restriction for UPI123 Pay would be raised to INR 10,000. In an effort to increase the use of UPI payments throughout the nation, the RBI has been aggressively testing out new UPI products at the same time. RBI governor Shaktikanta Das introduced UPI Circle in August 2024, enabling users to connect with reliable secondary users on the UPI app for partial or complete payment delegation.
UPI Tap & Pay and Hello UPI!
UPI Tap & Pay, which allows users to make payments by tapping their phone on a contactless reader, and Hello UPI, a conversational UPI payment solution, were both introduced by the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) last year. Digital payments are still growing throughout the nation because of rising internet and smartphone usage.
In November 2024, UPI recorded INR 1,548 Cr transactions, a 38% increase over the INR 1,100 Cr transactions recorded during the same period last year. In the meantime, the value of transactions on the payments infrastructure increased from INR 17.4 Lakh Cr in November 2023 to INR 21.55 Lakh Cr last month, a 24% increase.
Nitin Konde
