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  • Highest Paid Athletes in The World – 2023

    A person begins the journey of becoming an athlete out of a great sense of passion. It takes massive hard work, persistence, and patience to become one.

    After that, continuous practice, winnings, and popularity allow an athlete to become established, and an established athlete is one of the most rewarding professionals in the world.

    Many sportspersons started their journey from scratch and are now ruling the world. Cristiano Ronaldo, for example, comes from a very humble background, but with time, he has emerged as one of the most famous and highest-paid footballers in the world.

    Cristiano Ronaldo Lionel Messi, Kylian Mbappe, and more are some of the names who have made great progress in their fields and are among the highest-paid athletes in the world.

    Highest-Paid Athletes in the World 2023
    Highest-Paid Athletes in the World 2023

    How Do Popular Athletes Earn Money?
    List of Richest Athletes in The World Today

    1. Cristiano Ronaldo dos Santos Aveiro
    2. Lionel Andres Messi
    3. Kylian Mbappé
    4. LeBron Raymone James
    5. Canelo Álvarez
    6. Dustin Johnson
    7. Phil Mickelson
    8. Stephen Curry
    9. Roger Federer
    10. Kevin Durant

    We all have admired the expensive lifestyle of our favorite athletes. They not only get paid for playing or winning a sport, but there are certainly other ways they earn from.

    Here are some of the ways that contribute to their earnings:

    Sponsorships

    It is a kind of marketing strategy that many big companies use. In this, a corporation pays to be linked with certain events or people.

    So, players or their entire teams must put a brand logo on their costumes. In return for this, they get paid.

    Endorsement or Advertisement

    In this, players get approached by the companies for their promotions. The companies can pay them for a single deal and sometimes also offer them to be brand ambassadors.

    This kind of partnership can sometimes offer million-dollar deals that allow the players to make a huge fortune.

    Support from the Country’s Administration

    Athletes are an important part of a country. So, for every accomplishment like medals or others, they earn certain monetary rewards from the government.

    Social Media

    Nowadays, a strong and huge following on social media is a great way of earning. Athletes have a great fan following around the world. So, their presence on social media is now another way that contributes to their income sources.

    List of Richest Athletes in The World Today

    The world has many sportspersons and their athletic teams. Everyone’s pay scales differ from one another. Many get paid such handsome amounts that they are no less than a celebrity or an entrepreneur.

    Here are the top-most paid athletes in the world:

    Cristiano Ronaldo dos Santos Aveiro

    Name Cristiano Ronaldo
    Sport Football
    Country Portugal
    Earnings $136 Million

    Cristiano Ronaldo - Highest Paid Athletes in The World
    Cristiano Ronaldo – Highest Paid Athletes in The World

    Christiano Ronaldo is the highest-paid athlete in the world. He is an experienced player of soccer who hails from Portugal.

    He is the captain of Portugal’s National Football team. Also, he plays a forward for Saudi Arabian Club Al Nassr. The contract between Ronaldo and Al-Nassr was made public at the end of December 2022. The contract is worth 215 million dollars each year for two seasons. Ronaldo signed a contract with the Saudi club until 2025 after leaving Manchester United last year.

    The Portugal player is famous for his hat tricks, goal-scoring, awards, breaking records, and huge fan following. Cristiano Ronaldo has current earnings of 136 million dollars USD. This makes him the richest on the list.

    Lionel Andres Messi

    Name Lionel Messi
    Sport Football
    Country Argentina
    Earnings $130 Million

    Lionel Messi - Highest Paid Athletes in The World
    Lionel Messi- Highest Paid Athletes in The World

    He is a soccer player from Argentina, born in the year 1987. He is the captain of Argentina’s National Football team.

    He also plays forward for the American professional soccer club Inter Miami CF. Messi is said to be the most exclusive in his field and is famous for his great record-breaking goals. He has won a total of eight Ballon d’Ors, making him the most successful footballer in the history of football.

    Currently, Lionel Messi has an earning of 130 million dollars USD. He is the second richest athlete in the world.

    The Story of Lionel Messi

    Kylian Mbappé

    Name Kylian Mbappe
    Sport Football
    Country Paris
    Earnings $120 Million

    Kylian Mbappe - Highest Paid Athletes in The World
    Kylian Mbappe – Highest Paid Athletes in The World

    Mbappé is a French soccer player who was born in 1998 in Paris. He plays forward for France National Football team.

    He also plays forward for Paris Saint-Germain F.C. which is a professional football club based in Paris. Mbappé is one of the best players in the world, and he is known for his speed, dribbling, and finishing ability. He has won numerous awards, including the Ligue 1 title, the FIFA World Cup, and the UEFA Nations League.

    Kylian Mbappé earns 120 million dollars USD which makes him the third richest sportsman in the world.


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    LeBron Raymone James

    Name LeBron James
    Sport Basketball
    Country United States of America
    Earnings $119.5 Million

    LeBron Raymone James - Highest Paid Athletes in The World
    LeBron Raymone James – Highest Paid Athletes in The World

    He is a popular sportsman who plays basketball professionally. He was born in 1984 Ohio, USA. He is a player for the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association.

    The man is famous by the name ‘King James’ because of his all-around capabilities to play a game. He has gained a massive fan following and respect for being extraordinary in his sport.

    This basketballer is no less than a celebrity. He has been able to score a position for himself in the list just after Dak. At present, he has an earning of 119.5 million dollars USD.

    Canelo Álvarez

    Name Canelo Alvarez
    Sport Boxing
    Country Mexico
    Earnings $110 Million

    Canelo Alvarez - Highest Paid Athletes in The World
    Canelo Alvarez – Highest Paid Athletes in The World

    Álvarez was born on July 18, 1990, in Guadalajara, Mexico. He is a Mexican professional boxer who has won multiple world championships in four weight classes, from light middleweight to light heavyweight. He is currently the undisputed super middleweight champion, holding the WBA (Super), WBC, IBF, WBO, and Ring magazine titles.

    Álvarez is known for his excellent counterpunching, being able to exploit openings in his opponents’ guards while avoiding punches with head and body movement. He is also known as a formidable body puncher.

    His current earning stands at 110 million dollars USD.

    Dustin Johnson

    Name Dustin Johnson
    Sport Golf
    Country United States of America
    Earnings $107 Million

    Dustin Johnson - Highest Paid Athletes in The World
    Dustin Johnson – Highest Paid Athletes in The World

    Dustin Johnson, born in 1984, is a professional golfer from the United States. He has two major titles to his credit: the 2016 U.S. Open at Oakmont Country Club and the 2020 Masters Tournament. He turned professional in 2007 and quickly established himself as one of the best players in the world.

    Johnson is known for his prodigious length off the tee and his smooth, powerful swing. He has been ranked in the top 10 in driving distance on the PGA Tour for most of his career. He is also one of the richest athletes in the world, with 107 million dollars USD of earnings.

    Phil Mickelson

    Name Phil Mickelson
    Sport Golf
    Country United States of America
    Earnings $106 Million

    Phil Mickelson - Highest Paid Athletes in The World
    Phil Mickelson – Highest Paid Athletes in The World

    Phil Mickelson, born in 1970, is a professional golfer from the United States who has won six major championships. He is widely regarded as one of the most popular and successful golfers of all time. He has won over 45 PGA Tour events and is one of the highest-paid golfers in history. He has also won two World Golf Championships.

    Mickelson is a role model for many young golfers. He is known for his work ethic and his dedication to the game. He is also a generous philanthropist and has supported many charities throughout his career.

    He is also well-known for his demeanor and sense of wit. He is well-liked by both fans and other golfers. His earnings total 106 million US dollars.


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    Stephen Curry

    Name Stephen Curry
    Sport Basketball
    Country United States of America
    Earnings $100.4 Million

    Stephen Curry - Highest Paid Athletes in The World
    Stephen Curry – Highest Paid Athlete in The World

    Stephen Curry, born in 1988, is an American professional basketball player for the National Basketball Association’s (NBA) Golden State Warriors. He was born in the city of Akron, Ohio. He is widely considered as the greatest shooter in NBA history and is one of the league’s most popular players.

    Curry was selected seventh overall by the Warriors in the 2009 NBA draft. He rapidly established himself as one of the league’s finest players, leading the Warriors to three NBA titles (2015, 2017, 2018) and two NBA MVP honors (2015, 2016). Curry has also been named a seven-time NBA All-Star and an eight-time NBA All-NBA Team member.

    Currently, Stephen Curry has an earning of 100.4 million dollars USD.

    Roger Federer

    Name Roger Federer
    Sport Tennis
    Country Switzerland
    Earnings $95.1 Million

    Roger Federer - Highest Paid Athletes in The World
    Roger Federer – Highest Paid Athlete in The World

    Roger Federer, born in 1981 in Basel, Switzerland, is a former professional tennis player from Switzerland. He is primarily regarded as one of the all-time great tennis players. Federer won 20 Grand Slam singles titles, the second-most of all time, including a Wimbledon record eight men’s singles titles.

    Federer was the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) world No. 1 in singles for 310 weeks, including a record 237 consecutive weeks, and was the year-end No. 1 five times. On the ATP Tour, he won 103 singles titles, the second most of all time.

    Federer became famous for his all-court skill, court grace, and sportsmanship. He currently earns 95.1 million dollars USD.

    Kevin Durant

    Name Kevin Durant
    Sport Basketball
    Country United States of America
    Earnings $89.1 Million

    Kevin Durant - Highest Paid Athletes in The World
    Kevin Durant – Highest Paid Athlete in The World

    Kevin Durant, born in 1988 in Washington, D.C., USA, is an American professional basketball player for the Phoenix Suns of the National Basketball Association (NBA).

    Durant is largely recognized as one of the best NBA scorers of all time. He has four NBA scoring titles and has been named to the All-NBA First Team seven times. He has also been named NBA Finals MVP twice and NBA Most Valuable Player (MVP) once. Durant is also an entrepreneur and humanitarian. He owns his own distinctive shoe and clothing business, and he has given millions of dollars to numerous causes.

    He is also a role model for young athletes, and his story has inspired many people. He currently earns 89.1 million dollars USD.

    Conclusion

    Professional players all around seem to be ruling the world. They are not only sports players but also the pride of a country.They are responsible for representing one’s country to the entire world. The above listed players are the top athletes in the world. Becoming an athlete is not a cakewalk. It takes years of practice, persistence, winnings, and more to be well-established in one’s field.

    The above-mentioned are some of the most popular players around the world. They have been playing their sport religiously for so many years. It is their passion and consistency towards it that has made them what they are today. These athletes are the highest-paid in the world followed by Roger Federer, Lewis Hamilton, Tom Brady, and Kevin Durant.

    FAQs

    Who are the richest athletes in the world?

    The richest athletes in the world are:

    • Cristiano Ronaldo
    • Lionel Andres Messi
    • Kylian Mbappe
    • LeBron Raymone James
    • Canelo Alvarez

    Who is the highest-paid athlete in the world?

    Cristiano Ronaldo is the highest-earning athlete in the world with 136 million dollars USD.

    Which is the highest-paying sport in the world?

    Based on the average salary, the highest-paying sports in the world are:

    • Basketball
    • National Football League (NFL)
    • English Premier League
    • Major League Baseball (MLB)
    • Ice Hockey (NHL)
  • The Power of Transparent Communication Within Your Team

    Communication is crucial in any team or organization to achieve success. Open communication promotes trust, fosters collaboration, and strengthens relationships within the team. It enables team members to express their thoughts, concerns, and ideas, leading to better decision-making and problem-solving. Moreover, transparent communication encourages accountability and ensures that everyone is aligned and working towards a shared objective.

    In this blog post, we will delve into the significance of communication within your team and how it can benefit your organization.

    Establishing Trust and Nurturing Relationships
    Enhancing Collaboration and Decision-Making
    Promoting Accountability
    Boosting Engagement and Employee Satisfaction
    Creating a Culture of Transparency

    Establishing Trust and Nurturing Relationships

    Open internal communication in an organization builds trust among team members. When individuals are transparent and honest in their interactions, it creates an environment where others feel safe to do the same. This trust facilitates collaboration as team members feel comfortable sharing their ideas, concerns, and feedback without fear of judgment or negative consequences.

    Moreover, when trust is established, it strengthens relationships within the team. Team members feel valued and acknowledged when their opinions are heard and respected. This fosters a culture where everyone feels a sense of belonging and mutual respect.

    Enhancing Collaboration and Decision-Making

    Transparent communication greatly enhances collaboration within the team. When team members openly share their thoughts and perspectives, it leads to a grasp of the task at hand. This diversity in thinking can spark solutions and enhance decision-making.

    Transparent communication among team members helps in addressing conflicts and misunderstandings. It allows teammates to openly discuss their differences, find ground, and come up with beneficial solutions. This collaborative approach prevents conflicts from escalating and promotes teamwork.

    Moreover, transparent communication improves the quality of decision-making within the team. When all team members have access to information and are encouraged to express their opinions, it results in informed decisions. Different viewpoints and expertise are taken into account while minimizing the chances of overlooking factors.

    Promoting Accountability

    Transparent communication fosters accountability within the team. By communicating about progress, challenges, and achievements, everyone becomes aware of each other’s responsibilities and commitments. This shared understanding facilitates coordination and enables work towards shared goals.

    Through discussions regarding expectations, deadlines, and deliverables, team members can hold each other accountable for their actions. Clear and open communication is essential for avoiding misunderstandings and maintaining clarity in tracking progress.

    Boosting Engagement and Employee Satisfaction

    Transparent communication plays a vital role in enhancing employee engagement and satisfaction within a team. When team members feel that their thoughts and ideas are valued, they are more likely to contribute and take ownership of their work. This sense of involvement and empowerment leads to job satisfaction and a stronger commitment to achieving the team’s goals.

    Transparent communication also enables leaders to provide feedback and recognition. Regular, honest feedback on performance allows team members to grow and improve. Open communication facilitates acknowledgment of accomplishments, reinforcing behaviors, and motivating team members to continue performing at their best.

    Creating a Culture of Transparency

    Establishing a culture of communication requires efforts from both leaders and team members. Here are some practical steps to promote communication within your team:

    1. Lead by example: Leaders should demonstrate communication by being approachable, open-minded, and receptive to feedback.

    2. Encourage listening: Team members should actively listen to one another, showing respect for opinions while displaying genuine interest in what others have to say.

    3. Keep the team updated regularly: It’s essential to provide updates on the progress, milestones, and challenges of the project. By communicating these updates, we ensure that everyone is well-informed and aligned.

    4. Create a space for communication: It’s important to establish an environment where team members feel comfortable expressing their thoughts and ideas without fearing judgment or negative consequences.

    5. Establish channels of communication: Define the appropriate communication channels for different types of interactions. Encourage face-to-face meetings, video conferences, and collaborative tools to facilitate efficient communication.

    Conclusion

    In summary, transparent communication holds the potential to transform team dynamics and drive success. By building trust, enhancing collaboration, fostering accountability, and boosting engagement levels, transparent communication cultivates a productive team atmosphere. Embrace transparent communication within your team to unlock its capabilities.


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  • Whatfix- Empowers Users To Make Best Use Of Software Applications

    Company Profile is an initiative by StartupTalky to publish verified information on different startups and organizations.

    The Software as a Service (SaaS) model continues to gain traction across all corners of the business world, and for good reason. Also known as on-demand software, hosted software or web-based software, SaaS eschews traditional software installation, maintenance and management approaches in favour of delivering cloud-based applications via the internet. With SaaS, service provider partners shoulder the burdens of security, availability and performance.

    Whatfix is revolutionizing the way Application Support and Learning content is consumed by providing Contextual and Interactive Walk Throughs inside the application at the exact time a task is being performed.

    Whatfix- Company Highlights

    Company Name Whatfix
    Headquarters Bengaluru
    Founders Khadim Batti & Vara Kumar
    Founded 2014
    Sector SaaS
    Website whatfix.com
    Registered Entity Name Quicko Technosoft Labs Private Limited

    Whatfix – About & How It Works?
    Whatfix – Founders
    Whatfix – How It All Started?
    Whatfix – Target Market Size
    Whatfix – Shareholding
    Whatfix – Business Model
    Whatfix – Products/ Services
    Whatfix – Startup Launch
    Whatfix – Customers/ Clients
    Whatfix – Challenges
    Whatfix – Revenue
    Whatfix – Product And Services
    Whatfix – Funding & Competitors
    Whatfix – Acquisitions & Mergers
    Whatfix – Recognitions & Achievements
    Whatfix – Partnership
    Whatfix – Future Plans

    Whatfix – About & How It Works?

    Whatfix is a SaaS-based platform which provides in-app guidance and performance support for web applications and software products. Whatfix helps companies to create interactive walkthroughs that appear within web applications. Whatfix’s platform provides product adoption, user onboarding, employee training, self-service support and performance support for companies using enterprise web applications. The platform allows SaaS application users to create interactive walkthroughs, or in-app guidance flows, that can lead users through a task on the application.

    Whatfix Logo
    Whatfix Logo

    They choose this name because they’re all about problem solving and this conveyed it the most direct manner. Their mission is to empower companies to maximize business outcomes by eliminating technology complexities for their users.

    Whatfix has obtained ISO 27001:2013 certification as well as being SCORM 1.2 and DITA compliant. Whatfix is available as a paid-Business version as well as a free version. Whatfix is most commonly used on platforms like Salesforce, SAP SuccessFactors, Oracle Cloud, Workday, SharePoint, Apttus etc. Whatfix also has a free community version where individuals can create interactive walkthroughs on websites and applications and share them publicly. Whatfix has also obtained SOC 2 certification.

    The product then pivoted to an interactive guidance platform for enterprises called Whatfix. Currently, Whatfix helps companies increase user adoption of the applications they use while also providing performance support.

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    Whatfix – Founders

    Whatfix Founders | Vara Kumar & Khadim Batti

    Whatfix is founded by Khadim Batti and Vara Kumar. Previously, the two founders had worked together at Huawei, which helped them realize that they could work well as a team to start a new venture.

    Khadim Batti is the CEO and co-founder of Whatfix. Prior to creating Whatfix, he was heading the Deep Packet Inspection and BI product portfolio for the Huawei Central Research Division. He has over 20 years of experience in leading technology teams and has worked at Kenexa, Applabs Technologies and CMC Limited in the past. Khadim has passionately educated and mentored aspiring entrepreneurial talent in technology for over a decade now. He acts as a mentor to 25+ entrepreneurs. Khadim holds a Master’s in Information Technology from the International Institute of Information Technology, Bangalore, and a Bachelor’s in Electrical Engineering from the University of Bombay.

    Vara Kumar is the CPTO and co-founder of Whatfix. Prior to co-founding Whatfix, Vara spent nearly 9 years at Huawei in various roles from Software Engineer to Systems Architect. He began his career working on Network Management solution for WCDMA devices here. He further continued to help architect multiple products in the Deep Packet Inspection and Business Intelligence sectors. Vara holds a Master’s in Computer Applications from the Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University, and a Bachelor’s in Science from NRK and KSR Gupta Degree College.

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    Whatfix – How It All Started

    The Whatfix journey began in 2013 where Khadim Batti and Vara Kumar who worked together at Huawei decided to start their marketing DIY product called SearchEnabler, targeting the SMBs.

    SearchEnabler basically crawled interwebs for data points, crunched the data and showed recommendations for marketing on what could be optimized. While SearchEnabler got a good traction and the duo were able to gather about 100 customers, they faced a newer challenge – most customers on the product wanted extensive support and hand-holding. That core pain-point became the inception for Whatfix.

    Once the direction changed towards Whatfix, they were very clear on what they wanted – build what was required for the market rather than validate a solution after building.

    So, the first step towards growth-hacking Whatfix was the creation of its community. They cold emailed SMEs to announce the Whatfix community, which was open to all to use, integrate – the only catch – the content was public. The idea was to keep engaging the customers on the community as well as on the web for the first 30 days till the product acquired some polish before formally rolling it out. The community and the initial evangelism led to their first few paid customers.

    Every software organization solves for product and feature adoption, even the largest in the world. So, they reimagined the product to the current interactive guidance platform for enterprises it is today. They now play a significant role in the digital adoption process, while still allowing their customers to learn and adapt to digital transformation at their own pace. Currently, they have focused on the Enterprise segment catering to many Fortune 500 customers globally.

    Whatfix Team

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    Whatfix – Target Market Size

    Whatfix is industry and platform agnostic. And hence, they cater to a wide variety of organizations in industries like BFSI, High Tech, Automobile, etc. In short, everyone responsible for the usage and implementation of software tools needs to examine the digital adoption space.

    Currently, they are one of the leading providers of Digital Adoption for Enterprises across the globe. Most of the Enterprises have a large array of web applications. To ensure effective use of these technologies and to train their workforce to utilize them, these organizations invest millions of dollars. Whatfix as a Digital Adoption Platform helps in curbing this need for onboarding, training, and in-app support with its capabilities.

    Whatfix – Shareholding

    Whatfix Shareholding
    Whatfix Shareholding
    • Promoters 17.60%
    • Softbank 14.04%
    • Eight Roads 12.62%
    • Cisco Investments 2.20%
    • R Prime Capital Partners 5.41%
    • Others 4.01%
    • Stellaris 12.32%
    • Helion 14.38%
    • Sequoia 14.02%
    • DF International Partners 3.40%

    Whatfix – Business Model

    They’re a leader in their own space, and although they’re a private organization, their growth has been on a strongly upwards curve. Looking back at 2019, we can conclude that the company increased their total revenue by 300%.

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    Whatfix – Startup Launch

    The first step towards growth-hacking Whatfix was the creation of the Whatfix community. They cold emailed SMEs to announce the Whatfix community, which was open to all to use, integrate – the only catch – the content was public. The idea was to keep engaging the customers on the community as well as on the web for the first 30 days till the product acquired some polish before formally rolling it out. The community and the initial evangelism led to their first few paid customers.

    Once they understood the market potential, the next part was figuring out the right price point. After talking to the valley experts, they realized that it should be on the higher side of what we were providing. Few of the initial tradeshows and events like the Salesforce mega event – Dreamforce, that they sponsored helped in validating the price point as well.

    Post which, Whatfix gradually started positioning themselves to serve Enterprises and their constant need for Digital Adoption in the applications used by their employees.

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    Whatfix – Customers/ Clients

    Gartner recognized Digital Adoption Solution as a category last year. This has been a pivotal moment for Whatfix as they are one of the pioneers in Digital Adoption as a category and this has helped in connecting better with Enterprises who are potential customers

    Expanding their footprint by sponsoring and presenting at events on a global stage. And also scaling up their event footprint rapidly in their largest target market – US.

    Integrated campaigns have been the crux of their growth strategy. They have a wide variety of marketing activities across the board like Events both physical and virtual, ABM, creating content relevant to each part of their funnel, etc.

    One of their recent viral campaign was their 1st ever virtual-conference – The Digital Adoption Summit 2020 (held in May). They hosted 41 speakers at the event, which included industry influencers from SAP, Tesla, Lynda, HP, Infosys, and many more. They saw 3500+ registered attendees and visitors from across 142 countries across the 3 days of the event. 3/4th of the attendees was from Enterprises, fitting our ICP.

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    Whatfix – Challenges

    They are building a new category — Digital Adoption, and have been very successful in doing so. Many understand the problems they solve, but don’t necessarily understand that there is a solution available to them. That is the task they are currently solving.

    Gartner recognizing our category – Digital Adoption Solution last year has positioned them as one of the pioneers in the space. Since then they have been recognized by Deloitte and Everest Consulting as well in industry reports regarding the category.

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    Whatfix – Revenue


    Financials

    Whatfix - Financials
    Whatfix – Financials

    Financial Year Operating Revenue Total Expenses Profit/Loss
    FY22 Rs 172 crore Rs 440 crore Loss of Rs 250 crore
    FY23 Rs 382 crore Rs 631 crore Loss of Rs 328 crore

    Expenses

    Whatfix total expenses rises from Rs 440 crore in FY22 to Rs 631 crore in FY23.

    EBITDA

    The EBITDA Margin for FY22 was -124%, showing a serious financial difficulty. With a worse than ideal financial performance, the expense per rupee of operating revenue was Rs 2.56, and the return on capital employed (ROCE) was -41%. The EBITDA Margin improved to -96% and the Expense per Rs of Operating Revenue dropped to Rs 2.21 as the company moved into FY23, indicating a significant improvement. Nevertheless, in spite of these gains, the ROCE was negative at -93%, highlighting persistent financial issues for that fiscal year.

    FY22 – FY23 FY22 FY23
    EBITDA Margin -124% -96%
    Expense/₹ of Op Revenue Rs 2.56 Rs 2.21
    ROCE -41% -93%

    Whatfix – Product And Services


    Buyer’s Guide to Digital Adoption Platforms

    Leading research firm Everest Group announced on December 13, 2021, the release of the first-ever Buyer’s Guide to Digital Adoption Platforms through Whatfix. This research looks at the most crucial features that digital adoption platforms (DAPs) offer to users and the return on investment that DAPs provide to businesses.

    Whatfix AI

    Whatfix is developing AI using a “human-in-the-middle” methodology, which keeps people in charge of the technology while empowering them. End users can choose to provide business/IT stakeholders more precise control over AI-powered solutions by allowing them to examine them before using them.

    Product Analytics

    Whatfix announced the launch of its new product line, Product Analytics, on February 9, 2023. With seamless instrumentation that guarantees no-code event monitoring and data consistency, this product line enables enterprises to track, visualize, and analyze user engagement and behavior data.

    Whatfix – Funding & Competitors

    Whatfix has received a funding of over $139.8 million till date. There are 18 investors in total for Whatfix, as updated till July 2021.

    Funding-

    Date Stage Amount Investors Name
    June 8, 2021 Series D $90 Million Softbank Vision Fund, Eight Roads Ventures, Sequoia Capital India, Dragoneer Investment Group and more
    February 19, 2020 Series C $32 Million Sequoia Capital India, Eight Roads Ventures, F-Prime Capital, and Cisco Investments
    March 12, 2019 Series B $13 Million Eight Roads Ventures, F-Prime Capital, Cisco Investments, Stellaris Venture Partners, and Helion Ventures Partners
    April 4 2017 Series A $3.6 Million Stellaris Venture Partners, Helion Venture Partners, Powerhouse Ventures and Marquee Angels Gokul Rajaram, Girish Mathrubootham, Aneesh Reddy and Vispi Daver
    April 10, 2015 Seed Round $900K Helion Venture Partners
    October 6, 2014 Convertible Note $300K
    August 1, 2014 Seed Round
    July 10, 2014 Pre-Series Round $45K

    Whatfix was valued at $600 million after the last fundraising amount that came from Softbank, Eight Roads, and others. It had reportedly quadrupled the company’s valuation from its last funding round, when it was valued at $150 million, after which Whatfix decided to launch its first ESOP on July 6, 2021.

    Competitors-

    In their enterprise category Whatfix compete only with Walkme rest are SMB focused.

    Whatfix – Acquisitions & Mergers

    In October 2019, Whatfix announced the acquisition of Airim, a company that provides an AI-powered Personalization Engine for users and customers. Incorporation of Airim’s capabilities will allow for hyper-personalized in-app guidance at the user’s point of need. Airim’s offerings will allow Whatfix to analyze clickstreams and help in figuring out how long a step takes and where users get stuck or abandon the process completely. This is invaluable in further personalizing and customizing in-app guidance. This kind of information gives administrators the ability to make corrective changes to help users complete tasks in processes, even in an automated fashion.

    On July 6, 2021, Whatfix has declared that the company is ready for its first employee stock ownership plan (ESOP) and has offered an ESOP buyback of $4.3 million (Rs 32 crores) for its employees. Whatfix has further granted its employees to liquidate up to 35% of their vested ESOPs. A total of 175 eligible employees would be getting this privilege of liquidating their ESOPs, out of which over 80% of them have chosen not to liquidate their vested shares, who have further reinforced their trust in the future of the company. The value of shares will be available for both the current and former employees at the series D, non-discounted valuation of the company.

    Whatfix acquires Nittio Learn, a learning management system to fulfill diverse and dynamic training needs, on August 10, 2021. Nittio Learn is a platform that wields additional content options, assessment capabilities, and training course allocation, all of which will add to Whatfix’s application training capability, thereby making learning more personalized, adaptive, and rich and help to turn it into a comprehensive digital adoption platform for organizations. With Nittio, Whatfix could now promise a shockingly less ramp-up time for learning.

    CEO and co-founder of Whatfix, Khadim Batti was delighted while citing this acquisition, and according to him, now Whatfix can offer the customers “with all the necessary tools to execute such a massive digital transformation effort.” He further added, “We are continuously reimagining Digital Adoption alongside our customers as we grow and expand into new markets over the next year and beyond.”

    Nittio Learn is a platform that is popularly used by the largest e-commerce and retail companies of South Asia to train their employees. Gagandeep and Aravindan, the co-founders of Nittio joined Whatfix along with their team to leverage their rich expertise in the learning domain.

    Below are the companies acquired by Whatfix:

    Company Name Date Amount
    Leap Apr 26, 2022
    Jiny Apr 18, 2022
    Nittio Learn Aug 10, 2021
    Airim Oct 30, 2019

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    Whatfix – Recognitions & Achievements


    Whatfix

    Some of their key achievements and recognition –

    • Recognized as a Leader by Everest Group in the inaugural Digital Adoption Solution analyst report, which has been a testament to Whatfix’s position as a leader in this erupting space.
    • Achieved a B2B SaaS Customer Net Promoter Score of 65, that is in the 100th Percentile of the B2B SaaS industry according to GrowthScore.
    • Recognized in Deloitte’s Learning in The Flow of Work Solutions research report with Full Capability Scores for Incorporating Tools of Work, Providing Actionable and Relevant Data, Automated Reinforcement, Total Workforce, and Offline Activity Tracking.
    • Recognized in two Gartner research reports, including “Increase Sales Productivity with Digital Adoption Solutions” and “Hype Cycle for CRM Sales Technology 2019”.
    • Listed in LinkedIn Top 2020 Startups India as #5.
    • Achieved a 100% quarterly growth on a year over year basis for the past 2 consecutive quarters.
    • Works with a workforce of 500 employees across 6 globally located offices.
    • Enjoyed a 3X increase in its valuation over the past 15 months, as reported on August 10, 2021.
    • Enjoyed a 3X increase in its revenue and headcount over the last 2 years.

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    Whatfix – Partnership

    C Clears

    Whatfix announced on May 8, 2021, the beginning of a strategic partnership with C-Clear Partners to support Benelux companies in fast-tracking their digital transformation projects by encouraging the use of CRM platforms like Microsoft Dynamics and Salesforce.

    Suntec Business Solution

    In order to encourage rapid customer adoption of its SaaS products and provide a smooth and user-friendly onboarding process, SunTec Business Solutions announced in October 2022 a strategic partnership and integration of its products and solutions with Whatfix, the world leader in the digital adoption platforms (DAP) space.

    Whatfix – Future Plans

    Whatfix has a unique opportunity in that while many organizations focus on a particular region or industry, their solutions can be integrated with almost any form of application, including desktop apps. They have recently raised a Series C round, and continue to grow their teams to meet the high demand of the digital adoption space. They have also re-invested in the development and technology they provide — continuing to innovate is critically important to them.

    They  have the capability to focus not just on their existing customers, but expand the scale of their offerings to provide their services to enterprise organizations. They already work with a significant portion of the Fortune 1000 and they believe it’s time for the rest of them to come aboard as well.

    Whatfix – FAQ’s

    How Quickly Can I Get Started Using Whatfix?

    You just need to install the Whatfix Editor (extension) in Chrome or Firefox and you are ready to create guides. The user experience of the editor is so simple that you can create interactive guides in a jiffy.

    Will My Application User Need To Install Browser Extension?

    No, your end-users don’t need to install the browser extension.

    Can I Have An On-Premises Setup?

    Yes, Whatfix fully support the on-premise set up. Whatfix guides can be exported and deployed on your own web server with the companies on-premises export version.

    Will Whatfix Affect My Application Performance?

    Whatfix will have almost no impact on performance of your application. The JavaScript size and execution time are negligible.

    How Secure Is Whatfix?

    Whatfix supports HTTPS protocol and all accounts/data is access controlled. In the self-hosted/on-premises option, we ensure that no web request or data flow is sent outside your servers/premises.

    What Is The Pricing For WhatFix?

    Whatfix pricing is completely on the basis of customer’s requirements and usage. They have tailor-made pricing models for Small and Medium-sized Businesses and Larger Enterprises. For more details on pricing, you can contact at sales@whatfix.com or call on +1-800-459-7098.

  • Fostering Innovation: How Engagement Firms Ignite Creativity

    In today’s highly competitive business landscape, innovation serves as the driving force behind success—companies that fail to innovate risk falling and losing their edge in the market. To stay ahead of the game, numerous organizations are turning to firms for assistance in cultivating innovation within their teams. These firms enhance employee engagement and establish a culture that ignites creativity.

    However, achieving this goal requires the right tools. This is where the best employee engagement software comes into play. In this blog post, let’s take a journey and delve into how engagement firms spark innovation and why they play a role in the triumph of businesses with the assistance of top-notch employee engagement software.

    Establishing an Innovative Culture
    Promoting Collaboration and Idea Sharing
    Empowering Employees and Cultivating Creativity
    Recognizing and Rewarding Innovation
    Tracking and Evaluating Innovation

    Establishing an Innovative Culture

    Engagement firms foster innovation by aiding organizations in creating a culture that embraces and supports new ideas. They collaborate with leadership teams to establish a vision and mission that aligns with their goals. Through employee surveys, focus groups, and workshops, these firms identify organizational innovation obstacles and devise strategies to overcome them.

    One significant obstacle to innovation is the fear of failure. Engagement firms contribute by fostering an environment where employees feel at ease taking risks and exploring avenues. They promote a growth mindset, encouraging employees to see failure as an opportunity for learning rather than as a setback.

    This change in mindset enables employees to take calculated risks and think creatively, resulting in the development of solutions.

    Promoting Collaboration and Idea Sharing

    Companies that prioritize employee engagement also understand the significance of collaboration in fostering innovation. They create programs and initiatives that encourage employees from various departments and backgrounds to work together. By breaking down barriers and facilitating the exchange of ideas, these companies inspire creativity and embrace perspectives.

    These companies may arrange innovation workshops, hackathons, or brainstorming sessions where employees can collaborate to solve challenges or explore opportunities. By providing spaces for collaboration and challenging hierarchies, these initiatives foster a sense of ownership and engagement among employees, ultimately leading to innovative thinking.

    Empowering Employees and Cultivating Creativity

    Another essential aspect of nurturing innovation is empowering employees and nurturing their abilities. Companies that prioritize employee engagement offer training and development programs designed to enhance employees’ creative thinking skills. These programs may include workshops on problem-solving techniques, brainstorming methods, or design thinking approaches. By equipping employees with the tools they need to think, these companies create an environment for innovation.

    Moreover, these engaged companies emphasize autonomy and encourage employees to take ownership of their work. Engagement companies facilitate the creation of frameworks that empower employees to take ownership of their projects and explore ideas without supervision. By granting employees the freedom and autonomy to pursue their ideas, these companies nurture a culture of innovation where creativity can thrive.

    Recognizing and Rewarding Innovation

    To sustain an environment that encourages innovation, it is crucial to acknowledge and reward ideas and efforts. Engagement companies assist organizations in developing systems for rewards and recognition that incentivize innovation. These programs may include incentives, public acknowledgment, or opportunities for career growth. By appreciating and celebrating innovation, engagement companies motivate employees to continue thinking outside the box and generating solutions.

    Tracking and Evaluating Innovation

    Lastly, engagement companies play a role in tracking and evaluating organizational innovation. They aid in establishing key performance indicators (KPIs) and metrics that enable quantification and assessment of outcomes. Through monitoring progress and evaluating the impact of innovation initiatives, engagement companies allow organizations to refine their strategies and continually enhance their abilities for thinking.

    Conclusion

    Engagement companies are instrumental in fostering a culture of innovation within organizations. They promote collaboration by breaking down barriers while empowering employees to think through training programs and initiatives. These companies provide the tools and resources for nurturing creativity among employees.

    They also create systems of rewards and programs for recognition that encourage innovation and allow for the tracking and measurement of its effects. In a business environment, engagement companies play a role as partners for organizations seeking to stay ahead of the game and foster innovation.


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  • Skill Proficiency: Unveiling the Science Behind Assessment Software

    Staying ahead of the competition in today’s fast-paced society necessitates growth and development. Whether you are a student, professional, or business owner, refining your skills is crucial for success. The good news is that technological advancements have made it easier than ever to evaluate and enhance your abilities.

    Skills assessment tool software has emerged as a helping hand for individuals and organizations, offering a scientific approach to gauging skill proficiency. Let’s delve into the principles underpinning assessment software and how it can help you unlock your potential.

    Understanding Skill Proficiency
    The Science Behind Assessment Software
    1. Standardization
    2. Reliability
    3. Validity
    4. Adaptive Testing

    Advantages of Assessment Software
    1. Objectivity
    2. Efficiency
    3. Personalized Feedback
    4. Continuous Improvement

    Understanding Skill Proficiency

    Before delving into the intricacies of assessment software, it’s essential to grasp the concept of skill proficiency. Skill proficiency refers to reaching expertise in a skill or field. It encompasses practice, feedback, and targeted learning efforts. While some individuals may have innate talent in a few areas, mastery is attainable for anyone to invest effort.

    Traditionally, skill proficiency was evaluated using performance appraisals or self-assessments. While these approaches may offer insights, they lack the objectivity and precision provided by assessment software.

    The Science Behind Assessment Software

    Assessment software utilizes validated methods to gauge and assess an individual’s skill level. It relies on principles of psychology and statistical analysis to deliver precise outcomes. Let’s delve into some of the aspects and scientific principles that underpin assessment software:

    1. Standardization

    Assessment software follows an approach ensuring consistency and fairness in the evaluation process. Tests are specifically designed to measure skills or competencies, enabling comparisons between individuals. This standardization is vital for establishing a baseline and tracking progress over time.

    2. Reliability

    The reliability of assessment software is a crucial factor. Reliability denotes the consistency of results when administering the test times. Through testing and data analysis, developers of assessment software ensure that their tools produce outcomes. This instills confidence in individuals and organizations regarding the accuracy of the assessments.

    3. Validity

    Validity is another vital element in assessment software. It refers to how a test measures what it claims to measure. Software developers validate their assessments by comparing results with established criteria or expert judgments, guaranteeing that the reviews offer insights into an individual’s abilities.

    4. Adaptive Testing

    Numerous assessment software platforms utilize testing algorithms. These algorithms can dynamically adjust the difficulty of questions based on a person’s responses. This adaptive testing approach tailors the assessment to match an individual’s skill level, resulting in an efficient evaluation process.

    Advantages of Assessment Software

    Now that we have an understanding of how assessment software works let’s explore the benefits it offers:

    1. Objectivity

    Assessment software eliminates the nature that’s often present in traditional evaluation methods. The results are based on data and validated measures ensuring an objective assessment of an individual’s skills. This objectivity promotes fairness and eliminates biases, allowing comparison among individuals.

    2. Efficiency

    Traditional evaluation methods can be time-consuming and resource-intensive. Assessment software simplifies the assessment process by automating administration, scoring, and analysis tasks. This saves time and effort for individuals and organizations, making it an efficient solution.

    3. Personalized Feedback

    One of the features of assessment software is its ability to provide detailed feedback. Upon completing an assessment, individuals receive reports highlighting their strengths, weaknesses, and areas for improvement. This feedback allows for learning and enables individuals to focus their efforts on the most important sites.

    4. Continuous Improvement

    Assessment software empowers individuals to monitor their progress over time. Through self-assessment, individuals can identify areas where they can improve and set goals. This mindset of improvement is crucial for staying competitive and adapting to changing demands.

    Conclusion

    Assessment software offers an approach to mastering skills. By utilizing assessments, psychometric principles, and advanced algorithms, it provides reliable and efficient evaluations. Whether you’re a student aiming for excellence, a professional seeking career growth, or a business owner looking to develop a performing workforce assessment, this software can be an invaluable tool in your journey toward skill mastery. Embrace the nature of assessment software and unlock your full potential today.


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  • Revolutionizing Healthcare: The AI-Driven Innovations of Arham Akheel

    In the sector healthcare, the need for streamlined processes, efficient data handling, and enhanced decision-making is more pressing than ever. As an expert in this field, Arham Akheel finds that AI-driven healthcare automation, has been at the forefront of these advancements, leveraging Optical Character Recognition (OCR) and Machine Learning (ML) to significantly enhance healthcare systems worldwide.

    Transforming Healthcare with AI

    Leading the development of AI-powered systems that process Protected Health Information (PHI) with unmatched precision, Arham has effectively reduced the workforce required for manual data entry by a staggering 85%, from 60 employees to just five. This drastic reduction not only boosted efficiency but also ensured better compliance with healthcare regulations.

    “I’ve seen firsthand the power AI holds in transforming how we handle medical data,” says Akheel. From enhancing decision-making to improving patient outcomes, the impact of AI cannot be overstated.

    Coming from the expert’s table, Akheel’s work has earned him recognition as a thought leader in AI-powered healthcare automation. His research papers, which explore topics like automating insurance claims processing and extracting insights from scanned medical literature, have been well-received in academic circles. But it is his practical contributions that truly stand out in the healthcare sector.

    A Vision for Efficiency and Accuracy

    Reportedly, AI solutions have made a real difference, delivering clear, measurable results that have helped healthcare organizations succeed. According to the expert, the major standout achievement was, cutting the time for processing insurance claims by 70%. OCR and AI-based document classification, that used to take weeks are now handled in just a few days. This change speeds up reimbursements for healthcare providers and makes the process much better for patients, too.

    Beyond just speed, Akheel’s solutions have enhanced the accuracy of clinical decision-making. AI models integrated into Electronic Health Records (EHRs) have improved diagnostic accuracy by 20%, enabling doctors to intervene earlier in critical cases. These advancements, combined with AI-driven fraud detection tools, have resulted in financial savings and fewer billing inconsistencies, reducing fraud by as much as 20%.

    “The integration of AI in healthcare is not just about automation; it’s about improving the quality of care and making healthcare systems more responsive to the needs of patients,” Akheel says.

    Among all his contributions, Akheel highlight his key projects in healthcare AI. One notable achievement is the AI-powered OCR System for PHI Extraction, which uses advanced neural document models to automatically extract patient information from scanned records. This reduces human error by 90% and cuts processing time by 80%.

    Another key project is the Automated Insurance Claims Processing system. By combining OCR with Natural Language Processing (NLP), Akheel developed an AI-based pipeline that has reduced insurance claim approval times from 15 days to just 48 hours, while also increasing submission accuracy by 35%.

    Additionally, he worked on Predictive Analytics for Chronic Disease Management. By analyzing EHRs, lab reports, and lifestyle data, he developed a predictive model that provides early warnings for diseases like diabetes and cardiovascular conditions, improving early detection rates by 20%.

    Finally, he tackled Real-Time Document Retrieval, using AI-powered semantic search and OCR indexing to make healthcare document retrieval 75% faster, greatly improving administrative workflow efficiency.

    Despite these successes, the road to AI adoption in healthcare has not been without challenges. One of the key hurdles Akheel faced was managing the vast variety of unstructured healthcare data. With documents ranging from handwritten notes to poorly scanned images, accuracy could easily be compromised. To overcome this, Akheel developed sophisticated image preprocessing techniques and used transformer-based OCR models to improve recognition rates.

    Additionally, the challenge of convincing healthcare professionals to trust AI-driven decisions has been met with a focus on explainable AI (XAI) models, ensuring transparency and fostering trust in AI recommendations.

    “AI is not here to replace healthcare professionals. It’s here to enhance their decision-making and provide them with the tools they need to make better, faster decisions,” Akheel emphasizes.

    The Future of AI in Healthcare Documentation

    Looking ahead, Akheel believes the future of AI in healthcare is bright, with real-time decision support systems becoming the norm. He predicts that Federated Learning, which allows AI to train on patient data while maintaining privacy, will become the gold standard. Additionally, the continued development of multi-modal AI systems—combining text, imaging, and structured data—will revolutionize patient care by providing a more holistic approach.

    “As AI evolves, the possibilities in healthcare will be limitless,” Akheel concludes. The goal is to make healthcare systems smarter, more responsive, and more efficient, ultimately benefiting both patients and providers.

    Akheel’s groundbreaking work in healthcare automation stands as a testament to the power of AI in transforming industries. With each project, he not only pushes the boundaries of technology but also makes a lasting impact on patient care, making healthcare more accessible, efficient, and reliable for everyone.


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  • Finding the Perfect Mentor: 4 Key Considerations to Keep in Mind

    Finding the right mentor or coach for your small business can almost feel like searching for the right life partner. If you’re among the lucky ones to have stumbled upon the right mentor, it can be the start of a beautiful venture; if not, then it can result in a tormenting experience.

    A mentor is an expert or seasoned professional who guides and provides valuable insight to a company to reach its goals. Coaching comes at a much later stage and takes a more hands-off, consultative, and introspective approach to business leadership.

    Providing the right mentorship to your company can make or break your career. Many young entrepreneurs will vouch for this. A survey conducted by Springboard India in 2020 found that 48% of professionals struggled to find a mentor for their careers. Another survey of over 200 entrepreneurs conducted by the Bangalore Chapter of The Indus Entrepreneurs (TiE) in 2022 showed that 56% of entrepreneurs felt connecting with the right mentor was a major struggle.

    StartupTalky lists four important aspects to keep in mind in your search for the right mentor:

    Know Your Problem Well
    Network Online & Offline
    Two-Way Street
    Entrepreneurial Platforms

    Know Your Problem Well

    Knowing the problem areas of the company will help in zeroing down on a mentor faster.

    “Ideally, the need should be clear about why one is looking out for a mentor. At times, entrepreneurs think a mentor will not enable them but rather do the execution on their behalf. We try to see what is the long-term value that the mentor will give to the company and what is the expertise that the mentor will get,” said Manas Pal from Pedal Start, a Gurugram-based start-up accelerator.

    At times, a company may need the services of more than one mentor. Just like specialist doctors, a business requires different mentors for more perspective on each of its verticals.

    “A mentor or a coach will guide the organization to the goal that they are looking at. Mentors need to be able to help the company in two to three aspects of the business,” said Ayush Lohia, founder of Lohia Auto.

    Network Online & Offline

    Social media has brought the ‘class’ walls crashing down, making business personalities far more accessible to common folk than earlier. Many budding entrepreneurs recognize this and reach out to mentors through social media such as LinkedIn and Instagram.

    However, the proof is in the pitch, expert coaches say.

    “You just have to look at all possible options, tap into all possibilities, and make the effort to reach the right mentor. It could be on LinkedIn; it could be Google Search. My recommendation is that you prepare a good pitch. Reach out to them; you will be surprised. Some of these celebrity professionals will revert. Many want to help as they want to contribute by giving back to the ecosystem,” said Subash CV, executive leadership coach at Regal Unlimited.

    Two-Way Street

    Once you’ve managed to connect with the right person to mentor or coach the company, it is important to lay down a formal structure for mentoring.

    “If a company does not have the financial capability to pay the fees, then there should be something else in it. If both parties are not gaining, you will never get the best outcome out of it. It could be in the form of a small equity or it could be an arrangement that has financial implications and growth,” said Nasir Shaikh, motivational speaker and life coach.

    A number of angel investors in India also provide mentorship while also raising funds for startups, such as Angel Investor India and 100x.VC, to name a few.

    Entrepreneurial Platforms

    At times, reaching out to a concerned person or authority may prove to be difficult, even on social media. In this case, a number of industry groups and organizations have platforms where they connect startups with industry professionals.

    “If they have the appetite to go ahead and move ahead, they should probably seek support from such networks rather than directly reaching out to them. We onboarded a lot of mentors because these industry leaders have so many people reaching out to them on social media, but they are not sure about the company. Or even if they connected, the company couldn’t understand the advice that they were giving. So we offered to filter out the right companies,” said Pal from Pedal Start.

    The Government of India’s flagship initiative—Startup India—has its own mentoring platform, wherein experts can be reached. A number of state governments, such as Kerala and Telangana, have initiatives to support startups. TiE’s entrepreneurship programs also support and mentor small businesses.

    Conclusion

    Finding a mentor might become a tad easier once an entrepreneur is aware of the problems plaguing the company. Reaching out to an expert in that field is also easy in a world that is increasingly becoming virtual. It’s best to be informed about the initiatives that various government agencies and industry bodies have to foster mentoring so the startup journey becomes smooth.


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  • Your Ultimate Black Friday Facebook Ads Strategies

    Facebook, no matter how dead it gets is a powerful, powerful tool for businesses. No denying that. No matter how many of us don’t care about our feeds and pictures every day on this platform we still care about what goes into the platform and that’s everything that is needed to constitute the perfect recipe for businesses around the globe to succeed. Facebook ads, further add to this narrative. The right ads function, grow, and deliver – rising on key occasions. Black Friday is one of the biggest opportunities for eCommerce brands to make their mark and maximize their results. With competition becoming fiercer each year, it’s crucial to have a well-endowed strategy in place to stand out and make the most of this shopping extravaganza.

    In this article, we will explore the ultimate Black Friday Facebook ads strategy that will help you navigate through the challenges and make the most of the opportunities presented during this highly competitive period. We will also showcase some kickass examples of successful Black Friday Facebook ads to provide you with inspiration for your own campaigns.

    Preparing for Black Friday: The Importance of Warm Audiences
    The Pre-Black Friday Campaign: Building Anticipation
    The Black Friday Weekend: Focusing on Custom Audiences
    Post-Black Friday: Leveraging the Pre-Holiday Period
    The Holiday Season: Maximizing Clearance Sales and New Year Deals
    Setting the Right Budget for Black Friday Facebook Ads
    Freshen Up Your Creatives: The Power of Compelling Visuals
    Making an Offer They Can’t Refuse: Crafting Irresistible Deals
    Leveraging Social Proof: Reusing Engaging Posts and UGC
    Facebook & Google Black Friday Activity: Advertising on Both Platforms

    Preparing for Black Friday: The Importance of Warm Audiences

    To maximize your results during Black Friday, it’s crucial to focus on your warm audiences. These are the people who are already familiar with your brand and have shown some level of interest or engagement. Building and nurturing these warm audiences throughout the year will significantly enhance your chances of success during the Black Friday period. By consistently running Facebook ads throughout the year, you can build custom audiences based on various criteria such as website visitors, Facebook and Instagram engagement, video views, and customers. These custom audiences are likely to be your highest-performing ads during the Black Friday weekend and the period leading up to it.

    Analyzing a decade of Facebook ads data has revealed that Facebook ads are twice as expensive during the actual Black Friday weekend. This is due to tougher competition and higher budgets from other brands. To combat this, it’s crucial to start your Black Friday campaign well in advance. We recommend starting your Black Friday campaign on November 1st. This will allow you to profit for more than three weeks leading up to the Black Friday weekend. While it’s still important to advertise during the Black Friday weekend, we recommend dropping your budgets and expectations slightly during this time.

    To achieve optimal results, we recommend following a strategic timeline for your Black Friday Facebook ads campaign:

    • Anticipation (starting two weeks before November): The goal during this period is to create build-up and build your email list. Consider running lead-generation Facebook ads to attract potential customers and capture their contact information.
    • Pre-Black Friday (November 1st to Black Friday): This is the time to keep spending on Facebook ads to drive return on ad spend (ROAS) and create your Black Friday promotions. Consider creating gift guides or bundles to entice customers.
    • Black Friday Weekend (BFCM): During this period, focus on your custom audiences, such as email lists, clients, website visitors, and social media engagers. Offer a steep discount that is automatically applied at checkout to encourage immediate conversions.
    • Pre-Holiday (right after the BFCM weekend until December 23rd): Change up your promotions during this period with offers like buy-one-get-one (BOGO) deals, Christmas gift packages, or any other creative ideas you have.
    • Holiday (from Christmas to New Year’s Eve): This is the time to drop your clearance sales and offer special deals related to New Year’s resolutions. Don’t forget to consider special promotions for Boxing Day in Canada.

    Remember, the planning for your Black Friday Facebook ads campaign starts well before the actual weekend. It’s essential to create a game plan on paper, whether it’s a sketch, a spreadsheet, or a Google Docs document. Having a roadmap will ensure that you are fully prepared and able to execute your campaign effectively.


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    The Pre-Black Friday Campaign: Building Anticipation

    The pre-Black Friday campaign is a crucial phase that sets the stage for a successful Black Friday weekend. During this period, your goal is to create anticipation and build your email list. It’s an excellent opportunity to engage with potential customers and capture their contact information for future marketing efforts.

    Consider running lead-generation Facebook ads to attract potential customers and entice them to provide their email addresses in exchange for valuable content or exclusive offers. Lead generation ads can help you build a targeted email list, which will be instrumental during the Black Friday weekend. Additionally, this period is an excellent opportunity to showcase your brand and products, generating buzz and excitement among your target audience. Consider running ads that highlight your best-selling products, customer testimonials, or any other engaging content that aligns with your brand and captures the attention of potential customers.

    With the right buildup of anticipation and nurturing your audience in the weeks leading up to Black Friday, you can create a sense of excitement and exclusivity, increasing the likelihood of conversions when the big day arrives.

    The Black Friday Weekend: Focusing on Custom Audiences

    The Black Friday weekend is the pinnacle of your Black Friday Facebook ads campaign. During this period, it’s crucial to focus on your custom audiences, as they are most likely to convert and provide a higher return on ad spend (ROAS). Custom audiences include individuals who have already shown interest in your brand or have engaged with your website, social media pages, or previous ads. These audiences are more likely to be interested in your Black Friday promotions and are therefore more likely to convert.

    To leverage your custom audiences effectively, consider running ads that specifically target these groups. Craft compelling ad copy and creative visuals that resonate with your custom audiences and highlight the discounts and promotions exclusive to Black Friday. Furthermore, it’s essential to offer a steep discount that is automatically applied at checkout. This streamlined process reduces friction and encourages customers to complete their purchases without hesitation.

    Post-Black Friday: Leveraging the Pre-Holiday Period

    After the Black Friday weekend, it’s essential to continue leveraging your momentum and capitalizing on the holiday shopping season. The pre-holiday period, immediately following the Black Friday weekend until December 23rd, presents additional opportunities to drive sales and engage with your audience. During this period, consider changing up your promotions to keep your audience engaged and interested. You can offer buy-one-get-one (BOGO) deals, Christmas gift packages, or any other creative offers that align with your brand and resonate with your target audience.

    Keep in mind that the focus of your promotions may shift slightly from the intense discounts of the Black Friday weekend to more value-driven offers that cater to the holiday season. Consider packaging your products as gift sets or offering special holiday-themed bundles to entice customers. Additionally, you can leverage the holiday spirit by running ads that evoke emotions and capture the season’s essence. Incorporate festive imagery, heartwarming stories, and messages that resonate with your audience’s holiday aspirations and desires. Remember to continually monitor your campaign performance and make data-driven decisions based on the metrics that matter most to your business. Adjust your budget, creative assets, and targeting strategies accordingly to ensure maximum return on your advertising investment.

    The Holiday Season: Maximizing Clearance Sales and New Year Deals

    As the holiday season progresses, it’s important to adapt your promotions and offers to align with the changing consumer mindset. From Christmas to New Year’s Eve, you can focus on maximizing clearance sales and offering special deals related to New Year’s resolutions. During this period, customers are often looking for last-minute gifts, post-holiday bargains, and opportunities to start the new year on a fresh note. Tailor your promotions to cater to these needs and expectations and highlight the value and savings your products can offer during this time.

    Consider offering clearance sales on remaining holiday inventory, providing discounts on products that are perfectly suited for New Year’s resolutions, or bundling products together to create attractive packages at a reduced price. Don’t forget to capitalize on regional-specific holidays such as Boxing Day in Canada. Adapt your promotions to cater to these specific markets and leverage the cultural significance of these holidays to drive additional sales.

    Setting the Right Budget for Black Friday Facebook Ads

    Setting the right budget for your Black Friday Facebook ads campaign is crucial to ensure you can reach your target audience effectively and achieve your desired results. It’s important to allocate a sufficient budget to each phase of your campaign and adjust it based on your goals and performance.

    We recommend spending a minimum of ₹1500 or $25 per day on your Facebook ads during the Black Friday period. However, to truly maximize your results and stay competitive, an ideal budget of more than ₹7000 or $100 per day is recommended, depending upon your geographic location. It is important to keep in mind that the cost per conversion for Facebook ads during the Black Friday period tends to increase due to the higher competition and increased advertising budgets from other brands. The cost per conversion can vary depending on your industry, target audience, and the specific products or services you offer.

    To exit the learning phase and achieve optimal results, it’s crucial to be more aggressive with your budget. Investing more in your advertising efforts can help you reach a larger audience, increase your visibility, and ultimately drive more conversions and sales. Additionally, it’s important to consider the bidding system on Facebook. On Facebook, you bid for impressions, and the highest bidder gets the highest quality impressions and sales. During the Black Friday weekend, ad costs tend to increase significantly as big brands put forth higher bids, making it essential to build up your custom audiences before the actual event.


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    Freshen Up Your Creatives: The Power of Compelling Visuals

    In the world of Facebook advertising, creative visuals play a crucial role in capturing the attention of your audience and driving engagement. During the Black Friday period, when competition is fierce and consumers are bombarded with ads, it’s essential to stand out with compelling and visually appealing creatives. When creating your Black Friday Facebook ads, consider the following tips to freshen up your creatives and make them more engaging:

    • Variety: Use a variety of ad formats to keep your audience engaged. Experiment with in-feed video ads, in-feed image ads, carousel ads, instant experience ads, slideshow ads, and catalog ads. Each format offers unique opportunities to showcase your products and entice your audience.
    • High-quality visuals: Ensure that your visuals are of high quality and visually appealing. Use high-resolution images or videos that showcase your products in the best possible light. Pay attention to details such as lighting, composition, and colors to create visually stunning ads.
    • Storytelling: Use your creatives to tell a story and evoke emotions in your audience. Craft a narrative that aligns with your brand and resonates with your target audience. Consider using lifestyle shots, influencer content, or user-generated content to create compelling narratives that capture attention.
    • Branding: Incorporate your brand’s logo, colors, and fonts into your creatives to create a cohesive and recognizable visual identity. Consistency in branding helps build trust and recognition among your audience.
    • Clear messaging: Keep your messaging focused and concise. Highlight the key benefits, promotions, or discounts in your ad copy to ensure that your audience understands the value proposition of your offer.

    Remember to create multiple creatives and test them to identify the top-performing ad. Monitor the performance of your creatives and make data-driven decisions to optimize your ads throughout the campaign.

    Making an Offer They Can’t Refuse: Crafting Irresistible Deals

    One of the most critical elements of a successful Black Friday Facebook ads campaign is crafting irresistible offers that your audience simply can’t refuse. To stand out in a sea of promotions, it’s essential to provide significant value and discounts that entice your audience to take action.

    When creating your offers, consider the following strategies:

    • Discounts: Offer significant discounts on your products or services to incentivize purchases. A minimum discount of 20% off site-wide is recommended, although higher discounts may yield better results.
    • Bundle deals: Create bundle deals that combine multiple products or services at a reduced price. This strategy not only increases the average order value but also provides additional value to your customers.
    • Limited-time offers: Create a sense of urgency by making your offers available for a limited time only. Highlight the time-sensitive nature of your promotions in your ad copy to encourage immediate action.
    • Automatic discounts: Streamline the purchasing process by automatically applying discounts at checkout. This reduces friction and eliminates the need for customers to remember and enter coupon codes.
    • Gift with purchase: Offer gifts, samples, or exclusive bonuses with qualifying purchases. This strategy adds value to the offer and creates an additional incentive for customers to buy.
    • Exclusive access: Provide exclusive access to certain products, deals, or promotions for a select group of customers. This creates a sense of exclusivity and rewards loyalty.
    Neutrogena Offering free Samples in the Black Friday Beauty Buys
    Neutrogena Offering free Samples in the Black Friday Beauty Buys

    As a business owner, feel free to test different offers and monitor their performance to identify the most effective ones for your audience. Analyze the data and make data-driven decisions to optimize your offers and drive maximum conversions.

    Leveraging Social Proof: Reusing Engaging Posts and UGC

    Social proof is a powerful tool in driving conversions and building trust among your audience. By showcasing positive reviews, testimonials, and user-generated content (UGC), you can demonstrate the value and quality of your products or services, increasing the likelihood of conversions.

    One strategy for leveraging social proof in your Black Friday Facebook ads is to reuse engaging posts that have generated significant engagement. Take advantage of the likes, comments, and shares on these posts by transforming them into existing posts and using their IDs in other conversion campaigns. This allows you to preserve the social proof and make your products appear more popular and desirable. Another strategy is to incorporate UGC into your ads. User-generated content is content created by your customers, such as reviews, testimonials, or images of them using your products. UGC adds authenticity and credibility to your ads, as it shows real customers enjoying and benefiting from your products.

    When selecting UGC for your ads, choose content that aligns with your brand and resonates with your target audience. Highlight the positive experiences and benefits that customers have had with your products and ensure that the UGC reflects the diversity and inclusivity of your customer base.

    Facebook & Google Black Friday Activity: Advertising on Both Platforms

    Advertising on both Facebook and Google during the Black Friday period can significantly enhance your reach and maximize your results. Each platform offers unique advantages and targeting options that can complement each other and drive more conversions.

    Facebook ads allow you to target specific audiences based on their demographics, interests, and behaviors. The platform’s advanced targeting capabilities enable you to reach a highly relevant audience and increase the likelihood of conversions. Additionally, Facebook’s creative options and engagement features allow you to create visually appealing ads that capture the attention of your audience. Google Ads, on the other hand, allows you to reach potential customers who are actively searching for products or services related to your business. By targeting specific keywords and bidding on relevant search terms, you can position your ads at the top of Google search results and drive targeted traffic to your website.

    To maximize your results, consider running coordinated campaigns on both platforms. Align your messaging, offers, and creative assets to ensure consistency across your ads. Leverage the strengths of each platform to reach a broader audience and increase your chances of conversions.

    The EASY Way To Create Facebook Ads That Convert (Black Friday Edition)

    Conclusion

    By implementing these suggestions, you can increase the effectiveness of your Black Friday Facebook ads and increase your chances of driving conversions and sales. In a nutshell, your Black Friday Facebook ads campaign requires careful planning, strategic execution, and continuous optimization. By following the ultimate Black Friday Facebook ads strategy outlined by our folks at ST, you can hover through the challenges and maximize the opportunities presented during this highly competitive period. Remember to stay true to your brand, monitor performance data, and make data-driven decisions to ensure a successful campaign. Good luck and happy advertising!

    FAQs

    How does incorporating user-generated content in the Facebook ads help in increasing Black Friday sales?

    User-generated content is content created by your customers, such as reviews, testimonials, or images of them using your products. UGC adds authenticity and credibility to your ads, as it shows real customers enjoying and benefiting from your products.

    What are the tips for creating the Black Friday Facebook ad creatives?

    When creating Black Friday Facebook ads, consider having variety, high-quality visuals, storytelling, branding, and clear messaging to freshen up your creatives and make them more engaging.

    What are the strategies for creating Black Friday Facebook ads offers?

    For creating the Black Friday Facebook offers consider giving discounts, bundle deals, limited-time offers, automatic discounts, gifts with purchase, and exclusive access to your customers.

  • Zeta – How this Startup is Helping Financial Institutions Serve Customers Better

    Company Profile is an initiative by StartupTalky to publish verified information on different startups and organizations.

    Neobanks, as Wikipedia defines are banks that operate exclusively online without traditional physical branches. In several countries including India, neobanks are not granted banking licenses. Thus, neobanks provide their services by partnering with licensed banks. Owing to its convenience factor neobanks are gaining huge popularity especially among the millennials. Bangalore-based SaaS company Zeta is helping banks and fintechs offer neo banking experience to its customers. Here is the startup story of Zeta,  and how it is helping banking and fintech company’s serve their customers better.

    Zeta – Company Highlights

    Startup Name Zeta
    Parent Zeta Services Inc.
    Headquarters San Francisco, California
    Industry Neobank, Fintech, Financial Services
    Founders Bhavin Turakhia and Ramki Gaddipati
    Founded 2015
    Current CEO Bhavin Turakhia
    Website www.zeta.tech

    Zeta – About
    Zeta – Founders and Team
    Zeta – Mission and Vision
    Zeta – Tagline, Slogan and Logo
    Zeta – Business Model and Revenue Model
    Zeta – Funding and Investors
    Zeta – Growth
    Zeta – Products and Services
    Zeta – Investments
    Zeta – Mergers and Acquisitions
    Zeta – Partnership
    Zeta – Competitors
    Zeta – Awards and Achievments
    Zeta – Challenges Faced
    Zeta – Future Plans

    Zeta – About

    Zeta helps banks and financial organizations offer next-generation financial services to its customers using advanced technology. The company’s clients include leading banks and fintech companies.

    Banks, fintech, and businesses all around the world use Zeta’s services.

    Besides, Zeta offers program management services, whereby it offers consulting services to help banks to build, grow, market, and manage retail portfolios with a high ROA and low cost-to-income ratio.

    Zeta also offers solutions that let businesses manage employee benefits packages and reimbursements, as well as corporate gifting. By using Zeta’s end-to-end solutions company HRs can manage employee tax benefits and reward programs easily. HR managers, by using a single web-based interface can stay connected to the employees via smartphones and can send, reimbursements, gifts, vouchers, etc. to the employees at the click of a button. The employees either have a Zeta app on their smartphone, or a physical Zeta super card, that they can use to spend the rewards and reimbursements.

    Zeta – Founders and Team

    Bhavin Turakhia and Ramki Gaddipati founded Zeta in April 2015.

    Founders of Zeta - Bhavin Turakhia and Ramki Gaddipati
    Founders of Zeta – Bhavin Turakhia and Ramki Gaddipati

    Bhavin Turakhia

    Bhavin Turakhia (born December 21, 1979) is the owner of Flock, Radix, CodeChef, and Zeta, as well as a billionaire and serial entrepreneur. He is the founder and CEO of both Flock and Zeta. The World Economic Forum has named him a Young Global Leader for 2011. Bhavin Turakhia made a $19 million investment in Zeta in 2016. Bhavin, together with his brother Divyank Turakhia, was among the 95th richest people in India in 2016, according to Forbes, with a net worth of US$1.3 billion.

    Ramki Gaddipati

    Ramki Gaddipati graduated from Birla Institute of Technology and Science (BITS) Pilani with a Master’s degree in Management and a Master’s degree in Software Systems. He worked with the Directi Group for seven years, leading different technology initiatives in various roles. He is presently the Co-Founder and Chief Technology Officer of Zeta. His responsibility at Zeta is to manage a strong team of engineers in order to provide a solid foundation for the product. When it comes to product engineering, he comes across as a highly motivated professional who takes initiative and is dedicated to attaining excellence at every stage.

    Bhavin and Ramki had a desire to work in an environment where they could fundamentally modify or make major impacts. Zeta initially offered only a range of employee benefit services. Digital corporate solutions for employee tax benefits, automated cafeterias, employee gifts, and digital payments were among its first services. Later the company evolved and started offering banking tech solutions to empower banks and fintechs to serve their customers better and increase their revenue.

    “Banks are still stuck in the ’80s. Many of them still use COBOL programming language. They offer poor user experience,” said Turakhia in a press briefing, adding that to make up for it, banks end up working with dozens of vendor and technology partners. “Nobody thought of building the bank stack from the ground up, until now. Any financial service you can think of, Zeta provides it today.”

    As said by the founders, they do not want Zeta Tech to be a fintech, neobank, or bank; instead, they want it to be a platform that empowers financial institutions.

    Zeta – Mission and Vision

    Zeta’s mission and vision statement say, ” We provide comprehensive, multidisciplinary solutions, with understanding, competence, care, and precision. Our ambition at ZETA is to create profitability, reliability, and sustainability for our customers, building on the following elements: A holistic understanding of our customers’ needs and goals. “

    Zeta's Company Logo
    Zeta’s Company Logo

    Zeta’s slogan says, “Accelerating the world towards invisible payments.”

    Zeta – Business Model and Revenue Model

    Zeta operates on a B2B2C model, in which it serves as a technology service provider that sells its tech-based goods to banks and fintech firms. Zeta charges banks according to the number of transactions or clients, with no specific price information available.

    BFSI issuers across India, Asia, and Latin America use the company’s products. RBL Bank, IDFC First Bank, and Kotak Mahindra Bank are among Zeta’s clients, and the company has over 14,000 businesses as their clients. Zeta is used by 4 million people as of 2022 through their banks and other financial organizations.

    Furthermore, the company’s revenue has increased as a result of the Covid 19 epidemic, which prompted individuals to convert to a digital mode of service during the lockdown.

    The startup’s business strategy is to persuade large banks to outsource their digital infrastructure to it, allowing lenders to concentrate on backend compliance and services.  Zeta also released an omnichannel API stack for financial institutions, allowing them to create customized backend rails for neo-banking, consumer loans, and fraud analytics.

    Zeta – Funding and Investors

    Date Round Amount Lead Investors
    Mar 7, 2022 Corporate Round $30M Mastercard
    May 24, 2021 Series C $250M SoftBank Vision Fund
    Jul 23, 2019 Series C $60M Sodexo

    Zeta – Growth

    Zeta’s platform is used by over 2 million individuals, and major banks like RBL Bank, IDFC First Bank, and Kotak Mahindra Bank. Financial institutions, including Sodexo, as well as over 14,000 corporate clients, including Amazon, are using solutions offered by Zeta. Zeta’s corporate gifting program is used by a number of Indian banks.

    After the Softbank-led investment in May 2021, Zeta is valued at $1.45 billion. Turakhia and Ramki Gaddipati explained that the latest funding raised this year (2021) will be utilized to grow the company’s operations in the Middle East, Latin America, and South Asia.

    “Our goal is to become the de facto banking tech platform globally. Based on just our existing contracts, in the next 4-5 years our platform will have 70 million users, making it the largest neo banking platform in the world.” Zeta CEO Bhavin Turakhia said in an interview after raising the May 2021 funding round.

    Financials

    Zeta Financials
    Zeta Financials

    Zeta Financials FY21 FY22 FY23
    Operating Revenue Rs 297 crore Rs 615 crore Rs 815 crore
    Total Expenses Rs 347 crore Rs 637 crore Rs 796 crore
    Profit/Loss Loss of Rs 43 crore Loss of Rs 21 crore Loss of Rs 21 crore

    Expenses Breakdown

    Zeta total expenses rises from Rs 637 crore in FY22  to Rs 796 crore in FY23.

    EBITDA

    The company’s EBITDA margin increased to 4.3%. During FY23, it cost Rs 0.98 per unit to generate one rupee of operational revenue.

    In terms of finances, Zeta advanced significantly between FY21 and FY22. The EBITDA margin showed a good trend in profitability, increasing significantly from -12.05% in FY21 to -1.81% in FY22. In terms of operational revenue, the company was also able to lower its expenses, which dropped from Rs 1.17  in FY21 to Rs 1.04 in FY22.

    Zeta FY21- FY22 FY21 FY22
    EBITDA Margin -12.05% -1.81%
    Expense/Rs of Op Revenue Rs 1.17 Rs 1.04
    ROCE 47.39% 19.71%

    Zeta – Products and Services

    Zeta Omni Stack Platform

    The first contemporary, cloud-native, and fully API-enabled stack for banks in the market, Zeta’s omni stack combines core banking, lending, acquiring, issuing, processing, fraud & risk, and many more features into a single vendor stack.

    Zeta Tachyon Suite

    Designed for banks, this contemporary package includes core banking, credit and debit processing, prepaid hosting, and loans, all of which are connected with a mobile app to help banks deliver a neobank experience, sell more loans, and minimize fraud.

    Fusion

    Designed for fintech, API-based, platform-as-a-service(PaaS) platform ‘Fusion’ empowers fintech companies to design and manage financial products for various use-cases. Fusion enables fintech companies to integrate their platform with banks, payment networks, card printers, and more services to create a wonderful customer experience.

    Zeta – Investments

    Date Organization Name Round Amount
    Jun 30, 2017 ZingHR Funding Round

    Zeta – Mergers and Acquisitions

    As of July 2019, Sodexo Benefits and Rewards Services (Sodexo BRS), Sodexo India’s employee benefits and rewards arm, announced in a press conference that it has merged with Bengaluru-based fintech company Zeta’s employee benefits division. Following the transaction, Zeta has a minority share in Sodexo BRS India.

    Zeta – Partnership

    Mastercard

    Zeta and Mastercard partnered on June 22, 2022 to support banks’ and fintechs’ next-generation credit processing.

    Featurespace

    The world leaders in enterprise fraud and financial crime prevention, Featurespace and Zeta, announced their partnership on March 21, 2023, to bring to market a solution that combines fraud detection with best-in-class credit card processing for US issuers.

    Zeta – Competitors

    Zeta’s primary competitors include companies like Fico, Fiastra, Nets, and Accarda.


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    Zeta – Awards and Achievements

    • NASSCOM named it one of the Emerge 50 startups.
    • India FinTech Forum announced its FinTech Rising Stars during the 2017 India FinTech Awards.
    • 2018 BusinessWorld Techtors Award
    • The Finovate West Digital Best of Show Award will be presented in 2020.
    • Best Fintech in Value Added Services Award from Business Today and KPMG in 2020

    Zeta – Challenges Faced

    Zeta provides a suite of employee payment, accounts payable, and accounts receivable solutions for businesses. The firm offers commercial card issuing and hosting services to banks. Promoting interconnectivity between corporations, their banks, and back-office systems is key to reducing enterprise payments resistance on both sides.

    Adoption of a new technology related to finance in any business, bank or financial institution always takes time and also faces some resistance, which is a challenge for Zeta.

    “Any adoption of a solution involving payments will need to be integrated with existing financial and accounting systems within an enterprise, which takes a bit of time,” Zeta CEO Bhavin Turakhia explained, “adding that change, in general, often creates friction and can be met with resistance in company back offices.” he commented.

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    Zeta – Future Plans

    Zeta has ambitions to grow into Canada, Mexico, Brazil, and Argentina, as well as Europe. In an interview, the Zeta CEO published on June 2021, he revealed that the company has plans to expand into 30 countries over the next two fiscal years and focus on additional verticals such as wealth management.

    Under its employee benefits offering, which is currently live with Sodexo, Zeta plans to provide corporate gifts soon. It is used by over 1.5-2 million people and has over 8,000-10,000 enterprises on board.

    Zeta wants the top 300 banks in the world to be its clients, and it wants the US to account for 60% of its income in five years. In the next 12 months, the firm intends to quadruple its staff, which is presently about 800.

    70% of the funds raised from Softbank will be used for company growth, with the remainder going toward onboarding new clients. The funds will be used to expand the company’s operations, personnel, and platform in order to fulfill the demands of its growing client base. The main focus will be on putting together a credit card processing stack.

    In the short term, Zeta will concentrate on new hiring and product enhancements. It may ultimately consider a public listing.

    Zeta – FAQs

    What does Zeta do?

    Zeta is a  full-stack, data center, API-first neo-banking solution, fintech firm working on a platform that would allow employees to monitor their expenses, provide corporate gifts, and use co-branded debit and credit cards.

    Who founded Zeta?

    Bhavin Turakhia and Ramki Gaddipati founded the firm in April 2015.

    How does Zeta make money?

    They charged the banks based on the number of transactions or the number of customers. It also has a revenue-sharing model for fintech startups.

    Which companies do Zeta compete with?

    Zeta’s primary competitors are Fico, Finastra, Nets, and Accarda.

  • EV Investments Up, But Hopes Pinned on Govt Policy Push

    Everyone is salivating at the electric vehicle market pie in India! If the recent spate of investments is anything to go by, the EV segment is touted to be among the leading hero sectors driving India’s growth. However, stakeholders seek clarity and concrete policy initiatives from the government to make further inroads into the segment.

    “Several factors contribute to the increasing investments in India’s electric vehicle (EV) segment. India boasts the world’s largest untapped market, particularly in the two-wheeler sector, presenting an enticing investment opportunity. Growing demand, driven by a young and affluent population eager to embrace new technologies, further fuels investment interest,” said Arindam Lahiri, chief executive officer of the Automotive Skills Development Council.

    The 2022–23 Economic Survey tabled in Parliament in December last year had pegged EV sales at 1 crore and 5 crore jobs in the sector by 2030. Leading think-tank, the Centre for Energy Finance, expects India’s EV market to be $206 billion by 2030.

    There is no denying that demand for EVs has been on the rise. According to the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, electric vehicle purchases spiked by 51% year over year to 740,000 in April–September. This number is expected to cross a record of 1.5 million during the entire fiscal year.

    StartupTalky takes a closer look at this demand, the reasons behind the rise in investments, and the roadblocks that need to be addressed.

    India Electric Vehicle Market Size, 2022 to 2032

    Investments Galore
    Harsh Ground Reality

    Investments Galore

    If the recent spate of investments is anything to go by, the EV market has piqued the interest of investors, both in India and abroad.

    Earlier this week, Paytm Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder Vijay Shekhar Sharma launched a ₹30 crore fund to solely invest in EV and artificial intelligence startups.

    Earlier this week, electric vehicle and appliance manufacturer–Wardwizard Innovations & Mobility said it would invest ₹2,000 crore for the development of an electric vehicle ancillary cluster in Gujarat. Other states are not too far behind. Karnataka is said to have received investments worth ₹25,000 crore so far in the EV and ancillary space, newspaper reports quoted a state minister as saying.

    Earlier this year, British energy giant BP invested in EV delivery company Magenta and BluSmart Mobility, an EV-only ride-hailing company. Last year, global energy giant Shell backed the fund-raising exercise of Gurugram-based EV charging network company Statiq.

    One of the reasons for this frenetic activity in the EV segment is because of the huge potential that India holds. S&P Global Ratings has pegged India’s EV penetration at 1.1%, a far cry from the 17.3% average in Asian countries.


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    Harsh Ground Reality

    Despite the investments in the EV and clean technology sectors, there is still a long way to go for demand to remain persistent, say venture capitalists and companies that StartupTalky spoke with. According to them, some key areas that need to be addressed in the EV segment include:

    Charging Infrastructure

    According to a report released by the Confederation of Indian Industries in June this year, India may need 1.32 million charging stations by 2030 to meet the government’s ambitious sustainability targets. As of January 2023, there were 5,254 charging stations in the country, as per data disclosed in the Lok Sabha by Union Minister RK Singh.

    “India’s growing EV market penetration and battery development ambitions also introduce new barriers, including supply-chain worries related to the price and availability of semiconductors, metals and minerals, and battery cells, as well as concerns about insufficient charging infrastructure and electricity grid readiness,” a report by the International Institute of Sustainable Development said in August 2022.

    Some state governments, such as Uttar Pradesh, have already started work on installing charging stations along five main express highways in the state.

    Empowering Local Manufacturing & Research

    Apart from improving infrastructure, incentives also need to be provided to component manufacturers and for R&D (research and development), analysts and corporations.

    “In the last five to six years, funds have been going into battery manufacturing and battery technology companies, but that money is not there for the kind of R&D we need. It is slowly coming in. But the frugality with which Indians work is what we must leverage,” said Rohan Shravan, founding CEO of Tresa Motors, pointing to the higher cost of manufacturing.

    Imported lithium batteries in EVs constitute around 50–60% of the cost of EVs, making them much costlier.

    “The indigenous availability of the vehicles’ batteries and spare parts will also impact the consumer mindset and also the manufacturer’s mindset, as it will make it even cheaper for us to manufacture and sell,” said Kanchi Patel, director and co-founder of two-wheeler electric bike manufacturer Abzo Motors.

    Co-founder of angel investing firm The Startup Capital–Aditya S. Kapur, however, feels looking out for newer innovative technology and incubating these ideas at home is far more important than just manufacturing.

    “Our main concern is not to run our car on electricity. Our real problem statement is that we want a non-polluting automobile. We cannot call a car running on electricity completely clean. The whole process of innovation is completely linked to exploring. We need to give time to the stakeholders and allow them to explore things,” Kapur said.

    Policy Push

    Companies and investors are now looking to the government for easier policy regulations.

    In 2015 and subsequently, in 2019, the government launched the Fast Adoption and Manufacturing of (Hybrid &) Electric Vehicles in India. Under this initiative, buyers of EVs were incentivized by an upfront reduction in costs. However, owing to reports of malpractice, the government tweaked this initiative and reduced these incentives.

    At present, the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) is said to be working on a scheme to extend subsidiaries to electric four-wheeler makers based on the investments they make to manufacture locally, The Economic Times reported earlier this week.

    Many stakeholders are also wary of putting their fingers into the EV pie as they are waiting for more concrete steps from the government.

    “Till infrastructure is in place, heavy vehicles or large commercial vehicles are only bidding time, said Manas Pal, co-founder of Pedal Start, a Gurugram-based accelerator. He added, “The supporting component of this sector will play a very important role. Something on the charging stations, something on the battery development side, something on the battery manufacturing side, something on the battery recycling side, something on providing doles to people buying these commercial vehicles, something on the loan side will impact a lot,” Pal said.

    Conclusion

    The road to a pollution-free commute may seem like a long one, but at least the right noises have been initiated by stakeholders, including the government and investors. It, however, remains to be seen if India manages to hit a sweet spot in the EV sector. For now, this can be possible only with a concrete roadmap from the government, persistent corporate investments, and an ingenious sustainability model from think tanks.