A brand that has grown to operate 574 physical stores internationally and also transitioned successfully to online selling in a little over two decades is the Canadian multinational athletic apparel retailer known as Lululemon Athletica. Headquartered in British Columbia and incorporated in Delaware, United States. Lululemon Athletica, Inc., began by selling yoga wear and over the years expanded to include athletic wear, lifestyle apparel, accessories, and personal care products.
The company, Lululemon Athletica Inc., was founded in 1998 by Chip Wilson in Vancouver and it opened the doors of its first standalone store in November 2000. The idea behind the brand name was to have many ‘L’s’ to make it sound Western to Japanese buyers.
In July 2007, Lululemon raised USD 327.6 million by selling 18.2 million shares through its Initial Public Offering (IPO). The company was growing fast under the leadership of Chip Wilson who resigned from his post of Chairman in December 2013 and announced that Laurent Potdevin, the President of TOMS Shoes would take over as the CEO. In the year 2015, Chip Wilson also resigned from the board and was replaced by Michael Casey, former Lead Director of the board.
Under Potdevin’s leadership, Lululemon opened its first flagship store in Europe at Covent Garden, London in 2014. He led the company for fourteen years before resigning in 2018, both as the CEO and board member due to allegations of misconduct.
It was in the year 2019 that Lululemon announced an investment in MIRROR. MIRROR was a fitness app selling interactive mirrors with cameras and speakers for at-home exercise regimes. This was done with the idea of creating new content for the device beginning with meditation classes. It was in March 2020 that the Covid-19 pandemic brought the world to a standstill. This gave rise to the increasing trend of people conducting virtual workouts at home in lieu of going to the gym due to the pandemic-related restrictions. Capitalizing on this, Lululemon went ahead and announced a deal to purchase MIRROR for a total of USD 500 million in June 2020.
Lululemon x Mirror Commercial 2021 “See What’s in You”
Lululemon has incorporated elements of Landmark Forum into its leadership and developmental training since its inception. A source from within the company has clarified that it largely hires its managers internally. The store managers are then, accountable and responsible for the store’s layout, color coordination, and community involvement.
Products Sold by Lululemon
Lululemon’s product journey began with yoga pants. It was a product that the company invented. This was followed by shorts, sweaters, jackets, and undergarments along with hair accessories, bags, yoga mats, water bottles, and personal care products such as deodorant and dry shampoo. In the year 2005, the company trademarked its original fabric named Luon and then went on to produce several different types of fabrics that included compression and moisture-wicking designs.
Lululemon – Range of Products
Three years ago, in 2019, Lululemon also launched a luxury streetwear brand named Lab and stocked it in a few of its stores. It also announced its intention of doubling its business in the men’s category and competing against established brands like Nike and Under Armour.
Lululemon Athletica leverages social media sites that include Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram as their main marketing channels for its products. It also advertises through fitness instructors on commission-based incentive programs.
Chip Wilson began his entrepreneurial journey with his first venture named Westbeach, a small booth that sold BBQ shorts, sweatpants, skating wrap shorts, and snowboarding and surfing items. Westbeach witnessed success throughout the 80s till 1995 when it collapsed under supply chain and distribution issues.
While considering other opportunities, he joined a yoga class at a local studio and realized that the available yoga apparel had fitting and performance issues. He once said in an interview –
From my first yoga class, I knew exactly the fabric I wanted to use to make my yoga apparel. I had used a version of my dream fabric as the first layer under snowboard clothing for the emerging fourteen to eighteen-year-old female snowboard market.
With meticulous attention to the details of cut, fabric, flaps, and zippers, the brand was a runaway success. Lululemon’s apparel store also functioned as a yoga studio at night gaining even more popularity.
Much of the brand’s success was also attributed to Wilson’s philosophy of ‘personal selling’. He hired sales staff that represented the Super Girl persona and designed a strategic selling script that, paired with the in-store design layout helped Lululemon reach the same sales volumes of Apple and Tiffany. As the sales volumes grew, so did the number of stores which was later amplified by a successful IPO.
Although the company saw a brief downturn between 2013 and 2017, a change in the company’s leadership signaled a new era as the brand transitioned to e-commerce in 2018.
How Lululemon Dominates High End Active Wear
Present & Future
Lululemon has grown since those early days and it posted a 29% soaring Y-O-Y 2022 second-quarter revenue. It also recorded a three-year CAGR increase of 25% for women and 30% for men. In 2021, the company also introduced women’s footwear products in its product catalog.
Lululemon is forging ahead with an ambitious five-year plan that aims to double its digital sales and quadruple its international revenue by the year 2026. Their goal is based on three strategic action points – innovation, guest experience, and international expansion.
Conclusion
Lululemon’s journey has been far from smooth. In 2007, it fell victim to its own false marketing claims that its Vitesea line of fabric was made from seaweed, through a test conducted by independent journalists. Its polarising founder Chip Wilson landed in trouble with the media more than once through his indiscreet and, sometimes, racial comments. However, through it all, the brand has continued to grow and has a very optimistic view for the future.
FAQs
Who founded Lululemon?
The company, Lululemon Athletica Inc., was founded in 1998 by Chip Wilson in Vancouver.
What are the products sold by Lululemon?
Lululemon’s product journey began with yoga pants. It was a product that the company invented. This was followed by shorts, sweaters, jackets, and undergarments along with hair accessories, bags, yoga mats, water bottles, and personal care products such as deodorant and dry shampoo.
This article has been contributed by Nasir Shaikh, Group CEO, The Lexicon Group of Institutes, MultiFit, EduCrack, & EasyRecruit+, Associate Editor, Pune Times Mirror & Civic Mirror, Mediator, Conflict Coach, Leadership Life Coach (PCC), TEDx Speaker, Passionate Golfer.
In today’s congested economy, brands must separate themselves from the competition more than ever. This can be a challenge, as there are many factors that contribute to a strong brand. However, there are a few key areas that brands can focus on to create a unique and compelling brand identity.
One of the most important aspects of brand differentiation is to identify a clear target audience. Once a brand knows who it is trying to reach, it can tailor its messaging and marketing efforts to appeal to that specific group. For example, a brand that is targeting millennials will use different language and imagery than a brand that is targeting baby boomers.
Another key factor in brand differentiation is to create a strong value proposition. This is what will make a brand stand out from the competition and give consumers a reason to choose it over the other options available. The value proposition can be based on several factors, such as quality, price, convenience, or unique features.
Finally, brands need to consistently communicate their value proposition to consumers through all of their marketing channels. This includes advertising, public relations, social media, and even their website and packaging. By consistently communicating their value proposition, brands can help to ensure that consumers remember them and choose them over the competition.
Successful Examples of Differentiated Brands
Here are a few examples of brands that have successfully differentiated themselves from the competition:
Amul: Amul is a renowned Indian dairy cooperative that has differentiated itself through its humorous and creative advertising campaigns. The brand has positioned itself as the “Taste of India” and gained a loyal customer base through its catchy taglines and relatable messaging.
Apple:Apple is known for its high-quality products, innovative design, and simple user interface. These factors have helped Apple to create a strong brand identity that appeals to a wide range of consumers.
Titan: Titan is an Indian watch brand that has differentiated itself through its innovation and design. The brand introduced various features and styles to cater to different consumer segments, such as Titan Edge, the slimmest watch in the world, and Titan Raga, a range of watches designed for women with intricate designs and patterns.
Nike: Nike is known for its commitment to performance and innovation. The company’s products are designed to help athletes achieve their goals, and its marketing campaigns are often inspiring and motivational. This has helped Nike to become one of the most popular and successful sports brands in the world.
Starbucks: Starbucks is known for its high-quality coffee, comfortable atmosphere, and friendly service. The company has created a unique brand experience that has helped it to become one of the most popular coffee chains in the world.
These are just a few examples of brands that have successfully differentiated themselves from the competition. By focusing on the key areas of target audience, value proposition, and consistent communication, these brands have been able to create a strong brand identity that attracts consumers.
Ways Brands Can Stand Out From the Competition
In addition to the factors mentioned above, there are a number of other things that brands can do to differentiate themselves from the competition. These include:
Focusing on a unique selling proposition (USP): A USP is a feature or benefit that sets a brand apart from the competition. For example, Nike’s USP is its commitment to performance.
Creating a strong brand personality: A brand personality is the set of human characteristics that are associated with a brand. For example, Apple is known for its innovative and creative personality.
Using storytelling:Storytelling is a powerful way to connect with consumers and create a lasting impression. Brands can use stories to share their values, mission, and history.
Creating a strong visual identity: A strong visual identity includes a memorable logo, consistent branding across all channels, and eye-catching marketing materials.
By focusing on these factors, brands can create a unique and compelling brand identity that attracts consumers.
Conclusion
In today’s cutthroat marketplace, brands must go above and beyond to set themselves apart. By honing in on their target audience, crafting a compelling value proposition, and consistently delivering their message, brands can create a magnetic brand identity that captivates consumers. Just look at industry giants like Apple, Nike, Starbucks, Amul, and Titan, some of the top brands that have mastered these strategies to perfection. Yet, there’s more to it!
Brands can unlock their full potential by embracing a unique selling proposition, nurturing a distinct brand personality, weaving captivating stories, and showcasing a visually stunning identity. With these tactics in their arsenal, brands can forge an indelible mark, leaving an irresistible allure for consumers and securing their unwavering loyalty. The path to brand differentiation lies in embracing boundless creativity, unwavering innovation, and an unyielding dedication to excellence. So, as a brand, dare to be different, and the world will eagerly follow your remarkable journey!
Company Profile is an initiative by StartupTalky to publish verified information on different startups and organizations. The content in this post has been approved by ASAPP.
Customer service is one of the largest divisions within almost every big corporation, often employing tens of thousands of people. However, many consumers still find it a maddening experience. Resolving customer issues can take hours, withhold time, archaic systems, and other delays.
For instance, many contact centers find it difficult to transfer the information discussed with an agent over the phone when customers want to transition to chatting via the organization’s mobile app instead. Even solutions like online chatbots have proven ineffective in solving many such contact center-related problems.
It’s the need of the hour for large corporations to become digitally competent in how they interact and deal with their customers. That’s where ASAPP comes in. The company’s AI platform helps contact center agents analyze customer inquiries on any media via speech-recognition software and provide automated replies to the agents.
This article will provide more information about ASAPP, including its founder, startup story, products, funding, growth, business model, and more.
ASAPP is the AI cloud company that offers artificial intelligence and machine learning products to deliver automation and human augmentation, allowing companies and individuals to realize their full potential. The largest enterprises in the world rely on ASAPP to deliver efficient and effective customer experiences via their Contact Centers.
The company has offices in New York, Buenos Aires, Mountain ViewBozeman, SF Bay Area, Ithaca, London, and Bangalore. Among jetBlue, Spectrum, Astound, dish, Assurant, and other companies, ASAPP has helped clients achieve extraordinary results, such as an 86% increase in agent productivity, a 52% reduction in cost per interaction, a 3.2X increase in sales productivity, and more.
ASAPP – Industry
ASAPP is operating in the contact center software market. The contact center software market incorporates companies, developers, engineers, AI researchers, designers, and product managers designing and developing software for contact centers to streamline business processes and interacting with customers via real-time call monitoring, assigning customer contacts to agents, analyzing, tracking, and reporting vital metrics.
Contact center software global market size was estimated to be $42.67 billion in 2022 and is projected to reach $173.9 billion by 2030 with a 19.2% CAGR. With the coronavirus outbreak, call centers worldwide received approximately five times the call volume for a regular day. These huge figures accelerated the invention of advanced AI-powered contact center software.
Size of the contact center software market worldwide in 2017, 2018 and 2023
In addition to ASAPP, Zendesk Talk, Freshdesk, Aircall, RingCentral Contact Center, Convoso, and Dialpad are some of the best call center platforms of 2023.
ASAPP – Founders and Team
Gustavo Sapoznik – Founder and CEO, ASAPP
Gustavo Sapoznik is the Founder and CEO of ASAPP. He graduated from the University of Chicago. Moreover, Goldman Sachs has recognized him as one of the Most Exceptional Entrepreneurs of 2022.
ASAPP is a team of more than 440 AI Researchers, Designers, Engineers, Product Managers, and Industry SMEs.
ASAPP – Startup Story
Gustavo Sapoznik once witnessed a scene while shadowing a call-center agent at a renowned company when he watched a worker navigating the ‘Frankenstack’ patchwork of software, entering the caller’s details into six billing systems before locating it. The same was an eye-opening moment for Sapoznik.
Therefore, he established ASAPP in 2014 as a New-York based developer of AI-powered customer-service software. In 2021, the company built an architecture named SRU++ that it thought could compete with Transformer.
It was in 2022 that ASAPP launched two of its primary product offerings, i.e., AutoSumary and AutoCompose. Months later, the company’s AutoTranscribe was made available as API in June 2022. ASAPP launched Generative AI AutoAssist in May 2023.
ASAPP – Mission and Vision
ASAPP aims to increase human performance using the power of AI. The company strives to build transformative machine learning-powered products that can push the boundaries of artificial intelligence and customer experience.
Introducing AutoCompose
ASAPP – Business Model
ASAPP designs and develops AI software to make customer service agents at Contact Centers more productive and their job easier via automated chat systems, voice call transcripts, and many other support services.
The company’s software automates and enhances customer care teams, salespeople, and organizations’ customer conversations, allowing them to close more deals while focusing on more complex and data-rich issues.
ASAPP – Products and Services
ASAPP offers access to multiple AI Services, including AutoCompose, AutoSummary, AutoTranscribe, and JourneyInsight. In addition, the company’s solutions include Real-time Agent Assist, Quality Management, Speech Analytics, Self-Service Insights, CSAT Improvement, Agent Productivity, Sales Productivity, and Agent Retention.
ASAPP Products
ASAPP – Funding and Investors
ASAPP has undertaken 4 funding rounds in which it raised $380 million. The company conducted its latest funding round – Series C Round, on May 19, 2021, and raised $120 million. Several leading investors back the company, including March Capital, Euclidean Capital, Vast Ventures, Dragoneer Investment Group, and many others.
Date
Round
Number of Investors
Money Raised
Lead Investor
May 19, 2021
Series C
12
$120 million
Dragoneer Investment Group, Fidelity Management and Research Company
May 1, 2020
Series B
10
$185 million
–
December 15, 2015
Venture Round
–
$75 million
–
August 1, 2015
Seed Round
2
–
–
ASAPP – Patents and Trademarks
The intellectual property of ASAPP comprises 52 registered patents, with ‘Computing; Calculating’ being the primary category. In addition, the company is registered with 9 trademarks, and the most popular class is ‘Scientific and Technological Services.’
ASAPP – Growth
In 2022, the estimated annual revenue of ASAPP was $81.3 million, with $186,792 in revenue per employee. Furthermore, the company’s valuation stood at $1.6 billion in 2022. Its monthly web visit growth rate is 3.3%, with 1,156,480 monthly web visits, and the employee count increased by 13% last year.
Ranks one of the highest-scoring businesses on Inc. Magazine’s Annual List of Best Workplaces for 2023.
Artificial Intelligence Excellence Awards 2023 by the Business Intelligence Group in Small Organization Category and Automation Subcategory.
Gustavo Sapoznik (CEO) was recognized as one of the Most Exceptional Entrepreneurs of 2022 by Goldman Sachs.
Named as a 2021 Cool Vendor in Garner Report
ASAPP – Competitors
ASAPP is providing tough competition to the following competitors:
Intercom
Google
NICE
Cresta
Drift
Genesys Cloud CX
Zendesk Support Suite
Freshdesk
Birdeye
Chatbots.Studio
FAQs
What does ASAPP do?
ASAPP is the AI cloud company that offers artificial intelligence and machine learning products to deliver automation and human augmentation, allowing companies and individuals to realize their full potential.
The hospitality industry has evolved immensely in the last two centuries. In the early 1800s, inns were the only lodging facilities that were available for tourists. However, at the turn of the century, the definition of lodging expanded to include food and drinks that were also provided for tourists and travelers. Soon, the element of luxury blended in, giving birth to hotels.
It was in the year 1829 when American architect Isaiah Rogers designed and constructed the first luxury hotel in Boston, Massachusetts. The hotel was named ‘Tremont Hotel’. The hotel boasted of private attached bathrooms with locks on the doors. The year 1829 is considered as a landmark in the history of the American hospitality industry. The 20th century is known as the beginning of the modern hospitality era.
The 20th century saw innovations in transport systems that allowed more and more people to travel to various destinations. Enterprising entrepreneurs seized the opportunity this presented and jumped into the hotel business. The middle of the century saw the rise of giant hotel chains that have a global presence today. Famous names like Marriott, Sheraton Group, and Hyatt emerged as major players within the hotel industry. Increasing intercity travel due to the increasing use of cars and a well-connected road network also favored the growth of motels. This concept within the hospitality industry was well received and motels, too, grew in numbers. It is the 21st century that has seen maximum advancements with technological integrations in the hospitality industry. Apart from building some of the tallest hotels like Fairmont Makkah and Burj-al-Arab; Airbnb opened, signaling a new segment in the hospitality industry.
About Airbnb
AirBedandBreakfast.com, commonly known as Airbnb, Inc. was founded in the year 2008 by Brian Chesky, Nathan Blecharczyk, and Joe Gebbia. The company is headquartered in San Francisco, USA, and operates as an online marketplace for short-term and long-term homestays and experiences. The company plays the role of a broker and charges a commission for each booking.
Over the years, Airbnb has acquired many companies and has expanded internationally beginning with its first international office in Hamburg in the year 2011. The company has grown exponentially since it began operations and has gone on to become one of the most valuable and successful startups in the world. Airbnb has revolutionized the tourism and hospitality industry with a significant impact on HORECA (Hotel, Restaurant, and Catering) industry. It has disrupted the traditional HORECA model affecting revenue decline for hotels in certain markets. A notable detail of Airbnb is that it is one of the only major travel companies that does not have a loyalty program.
With its business model of providing a platform for peer-to-peer exchanges, Airbnb has been fortunate to avoid any major rental and hotel tax laws so far. However, there exists a certain similarity in the way Airbnb and the hotels, function. Hence, it allows for a comparison of certain parameters between the two business models to gain insight into which is best suited to the tourism industry.
Price
Airbnb operates as a marketplace where hosts and guests exchange housing for money with the company earning a commission. It does not have a direct effect on the prices of the lodging offered, as hosts retain the rights to set the prices for different lengths of stay, cleaning fees, weekend stays, and additional guests. Hotels, on the other hand, maintain a pricing scheme that meets consumer demand and the price includes housekeeping services. Of course, both Airbnb and hotels charge a premium during holidays and at a tourist-friendly destinations. In recent years, though, Airbnb has substantially closed the gap even in the luxury segment by widening its offerings.
Type of Accommodation
This is where, perhaps, Airbnb trumps hotels due to the variety of accommodations that it can offer like standalone homes, shared spaces, apartments, and even some hotel rooms. Moreover, Airbnb accommodations offer residential-style amenities including living rooms, kitchens, dining rooms, laundry facilities, and sometimes even private parking spaces that are all included in the cost of the homes. Hotels, on the other hand, can provide some of these amenities at a surcharge. They are more traditional with guest rooms and some suites.
Quality of Stay
Between hotels and Airbnb accommodations, hotels come out on top when it comes to quality of stay. Hotels have a staff that is available 24/7 with immediate access to daily housekeeping services available which is included in the cost. Also, hotel guests can get an immediate resolution to any service complaints while Airbnb guests have to contact the hosts resulting in a loss of time. Airbnb homes also charge extra for cleaning services and sometimes, it may not be available at all.
Can Airbnb Outperform a Potential Recession? | WSJ The Economics Of
Flexibility of Reservations
This is one area in which both hotels and Airbnb vary. Hotels offer refundable and non-refundable rates. However, extenuating or unforeseen circumstances will result in hotels relaxing on non-refundable rates and waiving any charges. These policies in hotels are all clearly stated and uniformly applicable. Airbnb hosts often set their own cancellation and refund policies which may widely differ from host to host. Although Airbnb offers cancellation policies for a limited number of extenuating circumstances, individual experience varies based on the situation.
Loyalty Programs
Most hotels have a robust loyalty program that encourages guests to repeatedly book rooms and in return get many rewards that include free stays, salon services, discounts on food and beverages, etc. Such reward programs guarantee a certain percentage of sales for hotels. Airbnb, however, has no such loyalty program and is dependent on the individual guest experience with the hosts for repeat bookings.
Conclusion
The question arises – Which is better? Airbnb or Hotels? The answer, however, is not a simple yes or no. It rather depends on the individual guest and the type of accommodation and service they are looking for as well as their budget. While it is true that hotels, in general, are a safer bet about quality and safety, Airbnb offers many more attractive deals and options than most hotel chains.
FAQs
Who are the founders of Airbnb?
AirBedandBreakfast.com, commonly known as Airbnb, Inc. was founded in the year 2008 by Brian Chesky, Nathan Blecharczyk, and Joe Gebbia.
Which is better, Airbnb or hotels?
It depends on the individual guest and the type of accommodation and service they are looking for as well as their budget. While it is true that hotels, in general, are a safer bet about quality and safety, Airbnb offers many more attractive deals and options than most hotel chains.
Company Profile is an initiative by StartupTalky to publish verified information on different startups and organizations. The content in this post has been approved by AppLovin.
Over the last two decades, mobile apps have become an integral part of our lives. The growth of mobile app ecosystems has benefited mobile app users but makes it challenging for developers to scale and succeed in a highly competitive market.
Most developers find it difficult to access marketing, monetization, and data analytics tools necessary to stand out among the 4.8M+ mobile apps available on Google Play and Apple App Store.
AppLovin is a global mobile technology platform that offers mobile app developers a robust, integrated set of solutions to scale up their businesses. Here you will learn everything about AppLovin, from its startup story and founders to funding, investment, acquisitions, products, and growth.
AppLovin is a mobile technology company enabling developers to market, monetize, analyze, and publish their applications via its mobile advertising, marketing, and analytics platforms. The company helps businesses deliver personalized experiences on a global scale.
With 19 offices in the US, UK, China, Germany, Japan, South Korea, and other countries, AppLovin is headquartered in Palo Alto, California. More than 10K developers are using the company’s software, with 14B+ Downloads and 6PB+ data being processed daily.
Adam Foroughi, John Krystynak, and Andrew Karam are the founders of AppLovin.
Adam Foroughi
Adam Foroughi – Co-founder and CEO, AppLovin
Adam Foroughi attended the University of California, Berkeley, to complete Business Administration. Additionally, he graduated with Bachelor’s in Business from the University of California, Berkeley, Haas School of Business.
He co-founded Social Hour and has been its CEO. Moreover, he is the ex-CEO of Style Page, Inc. and an ex-Board Member at PlayPhone. Currently, he is the Co-Founder and CEO at AppLovin.
John Krystynak
John Krystynak – Co-founder and CTO, AppLovin
John Krystynak graduated from the University of California, Santa Barbara, in Computer Science. He has worked as Product Management Director at NetGravity and Product Marketing Director at VMware.
In addition, he has been the Engineering Director at SocialMedia.com and CTO at Social Hour. Presently, Krystynak is the Co-Founder and CTO at AppLovin.
Andrew Karam
Andrew Karam – Co-founder and VP of New Initiatives
Andrew Karam attended Tufts University to complete his BA and BS in Economics and Chemical Engineering. He has co-founded two companies, i.e., Social Hour and Style Page, Inc. Moreover, he is the ex-Senior Products Director at Social Hour and Products VP at Style Page, Inc.
Karam has been working as AppLovin’s Co-Founder and VP of New Initiatives since 2011.
AppLovin currently employs more than 800 employees.
AppLovin – Startup Story
AppLovin was founded by Adam Foroughi, Andrew Karam, and John Krystynak in 2012. Foroughi stated that the company’s name ‘AppLovin’ was derived from Bloglovin, a content-organizing company. It operated in stealth mode until 2014 when Angle investors- Streamlined Ventures and the Webb Investment Network invested $4 million.
AppLovin launched its Lion Studios in July 2018 to publish and promote mobile developers’ games. In March 2021, the company filed for an IPO to raise $100 million. And one month later, AppLovin was established as a public organization, trading under the ticker APP.
AppLovin – Mission and Vision
AppLovin aims to grow the app ecosystem.
AppLovin – Business Model
AppLovin assists mobile app developers, particularly mobile game developers, in their success by solving critical marketing and monetizing challenges. Developers can use the company’s technologies and scaled distribution system to manage, optimize, and analyze their marketing investments and improve their apps’ monetization.
AppLovin – Products and Services
AppLovin provides multiple products, including AppDiscovery, MAX, Array, AppLovin Exchange, Adjust, and SparkLabs.
AppLovin – Challenges Faced
With macro headwinds impacting the mobile gaming industry, AppLovin faces a challenging operating environment. Moreover, the company is still dealing with a post-pandemic decline in consumer spending habits and economic slowdown.
AppLovin – Funding and Investment
AppLovin raised $1.6 billion by conducting 8 funding rounds. Its latest funding round – Post-IPO Equity Round, was conducted on March 9, 2022, and raised a total of $185.8 million. 10 investors back the company; the main ones are Sadik Ventures, Elysium Venture Capital, and Kohlberg Kravis Roberts.
Moreover, the company’s operating income was $48 million and its net income was $193 million in 2022. In the same year, it was valued at $29.6 billion. AppLovin’s employee count increased by -7%, and the website’s monthly visits growth rate is 9.14%, with 143,579,215 visits per month.
AppLovin is a mobile technology company enabling developers to market, monetize, analyze, and publish their applications via its mobile advertising, marketing, and analytics platforms. The company helps businesses deliver personalized experiences on a global scale.
Who are the founders of AppLovin?
Adam Foroughi, John Krystynak, and Andrew Karam founded AppLovin in 2012.
Company Profile is an initiative by StartupTalky to publish verified information on different startups and organizations. The content in this post has been approved by At-Bay.
In this advanced era, businesses of every size increasingly depend on technology, regardless of the industry. Among all the benefits of innovation, the digitized economy also creates cyber risk at a higher magnitude. These new risks are complex and old ways of managing them don’t work in the digital age.
Even though cyber insurance is among the fastest-growing markets, the incumbents still rely on standardized checklists and irrelevant actuarial data to model risk. However, AT-Bay is an industry-leading Insuretech company focusing on customized and real-time risk monitoring and reduction for its clients.
Read further to uncover more about At-Bay, from its founders and startup story to products, business model, funding, acquisition, and a lot more.
At-Bay combines advanced technology with industry-leading insurance to help clients meet digital risk heads-on. The company partners with business owners and businesses to provide insurance products and active risk monitoring for small to large organizations in every industry.
Its hubs are located globally in New York City, Atlanta, Tel Aviv, Mountain View, Chicago, Los Angeles, and San Francisco. Over 30,000 policyholders of At-Bay experience 80% fewer ransomware attacks compared to the industry average.
At-Bay – Industry
At-Bay operates in the cyber insurance market. When it comes to cyber insurance, it’s a type of digital insurance plan that protects companies from the costs of Internet-based attacks that could affect information governance, information policies, and IT infrastructure.
In 2022, the global market size of cyber insurance was estimated at $13.33 billion and was projected to grow to $84.62 billion by 2030 with a CAGR of 26.1%. Cyber insurance demand surged instantly due to remote working amid the pandemic. Now small to large enterprises are using insurance policies to get full cyber coverage to protect themselves against cyber-attacks and data breaches.
Global cyber insurance market size in 2018 and 2021, with forecast for 2025
Apart from At-Bay, AIG, Chubb, Hiscox, The Travelers Companies, Beazley, and Zurich Insurance Group are revolutionizing the cyber insurance industry.
Rotem Iram, Etai Hochman, and Roman Itskovich are the co-founders of At-Bay.
Rotem Iram
Rotem Iram completed BSC in Computer Engineering from The Hebrew University of Jerusalem and attended Harvard Business School for an MBA. He is the ex-Software Engineer of RAD data Communication and an ex-Consultant of McKinsey & Company.
Moreover, Rotem worked as K2 Intelligence’s Chief Operating Officer. He co-founded At-Bay and is working as the company’s CEO.
Rotem Iram – Co-founder and CEO, At-Bay
Etai Hochman
Etai Hochman graduated from Bar-Ilan University with BSc in Applied Mathematics and completed his MBA from Tel Aviv University. He has worked at Intucell as Software Engineer and Team Lead / Scum Master.
Etai is the ex-Product Manager of Cisco. Currently, he is the Co-Founder and Board Observer & Advisor of At-Bay. In addition, he also co-founded Mirato and is working as its CTO.
Etai Hochman – Co-founder, Board Observer & Advisor of At-Bay
Roman Itskovich
Roman Itskovich went to Tel Aviv University to pursue BA in Economics and Accounting. He has completed his MBA from Harvard Business School. Roman held the role of Consultant at McKinsey & Company and Senior Associate at Bain Capital.
Additionally, he has been the ex-VP of Financial Products at Ebury. At present, he is the Co-Founder and Chief Risk Officer (CRO) of At-Bay.
Roman Itskovich – Co-founder and CRO, At-Bay
At-Bay is a team of 280+ analysts, developers, designers, underwriters, and other professionals.
At-Bay – Startup Story
At-Bay was founded in 2016 by Etai Hochman, Rotem Iram, and Roman Itskovich to empower businesses to thrive in the digital world. In 2018, the company launched its 2019 cyber insurance policy from across the US.
It launched its first automatically underwritten tech E&O Policy in 2020. The company expanded its insurance offerings by launching Miscellaneous Professional Liability products in August 2022.
In January 2023, At-Bay launched its New Admitted Cyber Insurance Product for small businesses, approved in 47 states. Moreover, the same year, the company became a full-stack insurance carrier because it acquired At-Bay Specialty Insurance Company from XL Insurance America.
At-Bay – Mission and Vision
At-Bay aims to protect small businesses from cyber risk. The company’s vision is to challenge industry conventions and reimagine ways to assess cyber risk.
At-Bay – Business Model
At-Bay monitors the perimeter of its customers’ networks and alerts them to security risks and vulnerabilities. The company’s cyber security research and modeling approach help it predict future risks based on emerging threats. Furthermore, At-Bay enables customers to quickly close security holes by preventing network intrusions and data breaches and avoid loss by scanning for new vulnerabilities.
At-Bay’s partnership with brokers allows it to deliver security and financial exposure insights to the clients and design a proactive, comprehensive risk management program.
At-Bay – Products and Services
At-Bay offers Cyber, Tech E&O, and MPL insurance products.
At-Bay – Funding and Investors
At-Bay has undertaken 8 funding rounds to raise a total of $295.7 million. Its latest funding round – Venture Series Unknown, was raised on September 2, 2022, and secured $3.7 million. At-Bay is backed by leading investors, including Glilot Capital, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Acrew Capital, and the HSB fund of Munich Re Ventures, M12.
Date
Round
Number of Investors
Money Raised
Lead Investor
September 2, 2022
Venture Round
–
$3.7 million
–
October 13, 2021
Series D
1
$20 million
ION Crossover Partners
July 27, 2021
Series D
9
$185 million
Icon Ventures, Lightspeed Venture Partners
December 8, 2020
Series C
7
$34 million
Qumra Capital
April 22, 2020
Series B
1
–
–
February 20, 2020
Series B
5
$34 million
Acrew Capital, Munich Re Ventures
May 9, 2018
Series A
4
$13 million
Keith Rabois, Yoni Cheifetz
November 17, 2017
Seed Round
3
$6 million
Lightspeed Venture Partners
At-Bay – Mergers and Acquisitions
At-Bay acquired Relay Platform on August 22, 2022.
At-Bay – Growth
At-Bay surpassed $160 million in annual recurring revenue (ARR) on 800% YOY premium growth in the second quarter of 2021. Later in 2022, the company surpassed $380 million in annual recurring gross written premium (ARGWP). Its estimated revenue in 2022 was $186.9 million, with annual revenue of $40.1 million and $146,917 revenue per employee.
Moreover, it was valued at $1.4 billion in 2022. Its employee count increased by 44% last year, and monthly web visit growth is 55.6%, with 15,225 monthly visits.
Rotem Iram, At-Bay | RSAC 2023
At-Bay – Partners
At-Bay’s partners include the following listed digital platforms, insurance carriers, and professional associations:
At-Bay combines advanced technology with industry-leading insurance to help clients meet digital risk heads-on. The company partners with business owners and businesses to provide insurance products and active risk monitoring for small to large organizations in every industry.
Who founded At-Bay?
Rotem Iram, Etai Hochman, and Roman Itskovich are the co-founders of At-Bay.
In today’s dynamic business landscape, it’s crucial for business leaders to find innovative ways to engage with their target audience and ensure customer satisfaction. Interacting with customers and building lasting relationships are essential for retaining their loyalty. Additionally, understanding the growth potential of your brand is vital for sustained success. To achieve these goals, businesses need to explore new avenues for customer engagement and content connection.
One effective tool for customer interaction is online quizzes. In a digital world filled with numerous distractions, capturing and maintaining people’s attention can be challenging. However, quizzes have the power to captivate your audience and elicit valuable feedback from them.
Selecting the right quiz resources requires careful consideration and knowledge. To achieve optimal results and efficiency, it’s important to understand the core aspects of a quiz creator software. In this article, we will delve into top online quiz maker tools and help you identify the one that best suits your needs. So, let’s dive right in and discover the perfect quiz maker tool for your business.
Creating engaging and interactive quizzes for lead generation and customer engagement
Woorise – quiz maker online
Woorise is best tool for creating engaging and interactive quizzes that can be used for various purposes. It helps to create communicative forms, questionnaires, and polls that boost engagement rates. This aids in information gathering and memorization. Educators use quizzes to enhance the learning experience. The framework covers a wide variety of question types, including images.
You could present a variety of engaging surveys to your viewers to connect with them. Do you need to assign a different result to every question or solution? It enables the capacity to assign tailored marks to each of your responses!
It makes it incredibly simple to create quiz questions. When introducing a unique quiz, there are various online prefabs.
The framework supports contingent logic. A contingent logic enables a test to reply to the responses of the user. For instance, don’t ask questions that are pointless based on prior responses.
Subgrouping can be done using bifurcation forks.
Provides a calc feature that can show various participants’ questions predicated on their overall point total.
Adjust the assessment technique for the Test to meet your demands.
Pros
Comprehensive real-time statistics and ranks.
Conceal or display quiz takers’ scores and rectified responses immediately once they complete your quiz.
After they complete your test, send them an email link to the test outcomes page.
Save your trivia statistics in file types like CSV.
Connect quizzes & outcomes to apps available.
Cons
• It takes some practice to create complicated quizzes.
Pricing
Plan
Yearly Price
Monthly Price
Free
$0
$0
Basic
$23/month
$29/month
Grow
$39/month
$49/month
Pro
$79/month
$99/month
2. iSpring QuizMaker
Website
www.ispringsolutions.com/ispring-quizmaker
Rating
4.8 out of 5
Free Trial
Available
Founded
2001
Best For
Creating interactive quizzes in minutes
iSpring QuizMaker
If you wish to create your evaluations more interactive, iSpring QuizMaker is among the top choices. It helps to build a wide variety of tests, including MCQs and 5-point Likert polls, as well as drag-and-drop & hub polls.
You could also modify the trivia setup, such as placing time constraints and rating criteria, as well as randomizing the answer sequence. Because it is so versatile, it is incredibly user-friendly and will appeal to both skilled and unskilled users.
There are 14 question forms for both evaluated tests and polls, and queries and response texts can be augmented with pictures, sound, and clips.
Allows you to design your own educational experiences.
Precludes cheating by limiting the range of attempts and timeframe for each topic.
Compatibility with a wide range of LMS.
The ability to instantly submit quiz outcomes to educators’ and/or participants’ email addresses.
Among the most popular trivia creators is SurveyMonkey. It is intended to evoke the appropriate feedback from the participants. Thousands of carefully worded survey methodologist formats and questionnaires are available. The portal of SurveyMonkey gives free formats for HR departments and leaders.
It generates simple polls and quizzes in seconds.
Questionnaires and polls can be customized in terms of the overall design.
Even after customizing polls, the Monkey survey logo persists.
You can use explanatory variables and filtration indefinitely with the paid version. Outcomes can also be exported.
With SurveyMonkey’s quiz maker, users can create engaging quizzes and assessments, customize question formats, set scoring options, and generate insightful reports. The quiz maker tool is suitable for educational purposes, employee training, knowledge assessments, and interactive content creation.
Riddle is a user-friendly online platform that allows you to create and customize quizzes effortlessly. With a wide range of options, including polls, personality tests, surveys, and quizzes, Riddle provides built-in lead generation features to enhance your marketing efforts.
Renowned publishers and brands like the BBC, Red Bull, and the NBA’s Chicago Bulls trust Riddle to create engaging quizzes and interactive content. The platform offers a seamless experience by enabling complete white labeling, ensuring that your quizzes perfectly align with the look and feel of your website. With Riddle, you can easily build captivating quizzes that captivate your audience and enhance your online presence.
Build 15 different types of quizzes, polls, and surveys.
Engage quiz takers individually with journey quiz type, presenting unique questions to each participant.
Drag-and-drop form builder, simplifying the quiz creation process.
Built-in image editing feature to enhance your quizzes with visually appealing graphics.
Customize the quizzes to match your brand by utilizing Riddle’s 100% white-labeling capability.
Pros
Riddle allows you to create unlimited conten.
They offer plans without limitations on views and leads.
With all plans, Riddle provides a 30-day money-back guarantee, giving you the opportunity to try their platform risk-free.
The option to add extra users to a project allows for collaborative content creation and teamwork.
Cons
Riddle’s pricing may be slightly higher compared to other similar platforms.
Wufoo is an online form builder and survey tool that allows users to create custom forms and surveys without any coding knowledge. It is widely used by businesses, organizations, and individuals for collecting data, managing registrations, processing payments, and more.
This app is used to design polls by some of the sector’s leading brands. People and organizations use this tool for innovative form rationale because it is a cloud-based framework. HTML forms could be created without writing code. However, understanding the more innovative functions may still mandate some expert knowledge.
Provides the exclusive feature of notifying the user by multiple means including sending an e-mail or a text message to keep them updated about their status and any form entry made in due time.
The Wufoo-powered forum also allows easy integration with multiple online payment modes.
Allows advanced customization of the forms and messages that need to be updated on the form after its closure.
Wufoo Tutorial For Beginners 2023 | Create Forms With Wufoo
Pros
It is simple to design, insert, and organize data.
The drag-and-drop attribute helps make it simple to use.
It is adaptable.
Cons
Answers are minimal if using the lite option.
This has a simple design, and the functionality appears to be outdated.
Creating interactive quizzes, surveys, and contests
Brandquiz
Brandquiz is an online platform that allows businesses to create and customize interactive quizzes, surveys, assessments, and contests for engaging audiences, capturing leads, and promoting their brand. Multiple choice questions, aptitude tests, evaluations, polls, and forms are all created by the tool. It has fun layouts and an interactive framework. It works with other portals like WordPress and Weebly.
Brandquiz is compatible with all platforms.
Brandquiz allows easy survey management with the feature of importing and exporting contacts.
It also provides insightful help for complaint management.
Pros
It has fantastic design ideas.
The UI is dynamic
This can be incorporated with other main promotional portals such as Salesforce and Hubspot.
Creating online surveys, questionnaires, and forms
Google Forms
Google Forms is a free online tool provided by Google that allows users to create customizable forms and surveys to collect data, gather feedback, organize events, conduct quizzes, and more in a simple and collaborative way.
It’s simple. Despite having a simple UI, it’s among the most famous quiz creators and poll portals. This tool helps to create polls and quizzes. Information can be obtained and delivered to Google Sheets for assessment as a component of the Google G Suite.
Google Forms provide 17+ types of different templates for easy work.
Google Forms allows the introduction of conditional logic in forms to have a debating answer from the users.
Google Forms also permit the files to be uploaded on them.
Pros
It can generate fabulous forms.
It can gather and organize data.
It enables you to utilize your own pic and logo.
The forms are adaptable, making them simple to create and modify.
Cons
Personalization is limited.
Form choices are scarce.
Security is constrained – to help with safety, you’d have to generate a strong passcode.
FormCrafts is an online form builder tool that enables users to create custom forms and surveys with ease, offering advanced features such as conditional logic, file uploads, payment integrations, and data analytics for efficient data collection and lead generation.
It is a popular WordPress creator that enables users to create visually appealing forms. This digital form maker tool generates interactive forms without requiring any coding.
Formcraft carries a number of designs and templates that are formed by experts and save the time of making them from the scratch for the users.
The templates available;e on the platform of Formcraft can be fully customized as per the need of the user.
Formcraft allows easy integration and adds-on services for third-party users.
Pros
It can allow additional page forms and has real-time insights functionalities.
It is simple to incorporate with WordPress through a widget.
Cons
• The backend may be inoperable.
Pricing
Plan
Monthly Price
Standard
$39/month
Plus
$59/month
Business
$99/month
9. Hubspot Forms
Website
www.hubspot.com/products/marketing/forms
Rating
4.5 out of 5
Free Trial
Available
Founded
2007
Best For
Creating and managing lead capture forms
Hubspot Form Builder
HubSpot’s free online form builder is a versatile tool that enables businesses to create and customize forms for various purposes, including lead generation, contact forms, event registrations, and surveys, all integrated with the HubSpot CRM for seamless data management and lead nurturing.
Despite their innovative features, they are simple to use. Hubspot forms are cleverly engineered to transform anonymous visitors into leads on your website. By alerting people via calls, messages, or emails, you can establish a good rapport with them.
Hubspot comes with smart analytics that helps the user understand how their customer interacts with their forms based on their responses.
Has a drag-and-drop feature in use to help in making the customization much easier.
Allows the customer’s information to be saved into the customer’s data once they have completed the form filling for future use.
Microsoft Forms is a web-based application that allows users to create surveys, quizzes, and polls to gather data, conduct assessments, and collect feedback in a simple and organized manner. It provides features for customizable form creation, response tracking, and data analysis, making it a versatile tool for various personal, educational, and business needs.
Questionnaires and opinion surveys can all be created with the framework. It is ideal for educators who want to interact with learners and receive timely feedback. They could also show the learners’ scores after each exam, making this process more fun and informative. It can also be used to automate and reshape business workarounds.
Microsoft forms can be easily integrated with the Microsoft stream. It is a video-sharing platform.
Microsoft forms are made available in more than one language and can be used at multiple places crossing the language barrier.
Microsoft forms can be easily linked to an excel sheet as they all are a part of the same application.
How to Create a Quiz with Microsoft Forms
Pros
They’re perfect for creating polls, questionnaires, and customer surveys.
It can analyze quiz information quickly.
The outcomes can be exported to Excel File for further examination.
It is simple to use.
Cons
It lacks sophisticated options.
You can’t use alternative sources to input questions.
Quizzes are mainly used as a technique to know someone better. In school, quizzes were taken to strengthen the bond between teacher and student. On an online platform, there are many types of quizzes taking place all with the same purpose of converting the visitors into the lead. There are many online platforms available that make it super easy to create and share quizzes, and forms.
They are created with the purpose of knowing more about the customers and their demands through the direct feedback method. The above context contains the example of the best quiz maker tools that one can prefer to use in 2023.
FAQs
What is a quiz maker tool?
A quiz maker tool is an online platform or software that allows users to create, customize, and distribute quizzes, surveys, and assessments for various purposes such as lead generation, customer engagement, educational assessments, and more.
What are the best quiz maker tools?
Some of the best quiz maker tools to use in 2023 are:
Woorise
iSpring QuizMaker
SurveyMonkey
Riddle Quiz Maker
Wufoo
Brandquiz
Google Forms
Formcrafts
Hubspot Forms
Microsoft Forms
How can quiz maker tools benefit businesses?
Quiz maker tools offer several benefits for businesses. They enable businesses to engage with their audience, generate leads, collect valuable customer data, gain insights into customer preferences and behaviors, and create interactive and personalized experiences that enhance brand awareness and customer satisfaction.
Can quiz maker tools be used for educational purposes?
Yes, quiz maker tools are widely used in educational settings. Teachers can utilize these tools to create quizzes and assessments for students, track their progress, provide feedback, and enhance the learning experience.
How can quiz maker tools help with lead generation?
Quiz maker tools often include lead generation features such as capturing email addresses or contact information from quiz participants. This allows businesses to expand their contact lists, nurture leads, and further engage with potential customers through targeted marketing campaigns.
Since 1994, the Cisco Certified Network Associate (CCNA) certification has been the industry standard. Cisco has not only established its worth but also valued the careers of over 600,000 individuals.
What is the true reason for this staggering figure? Reliability is key. Cisco is the most trusted vendor in terms of certification. CCNA offers a career that is seamless, solid, and oriented toward the future.
Examine the certification using different parameters to determine CCNA’s worthiness.
The First Step to a Successful Technical Career – CCNA
Cisco Certified Network Associate is the first step to a successful technical career. Before you can move into other fields, you need to have CCNA-level knowledge. These fields may include Cybersecurity, Cloud Computing, and others.
The CCNA is a foundational course. You will learn the following:
Routing and switching
Subnetting
IP Addressing
Configuring networks
OSI Model
Network device security
These topics are vital for anyone interested in becoming a professional technical professional, whether they’re a Network Engineer, Cloud Engineer, or Cybersecurity Specialist.
Many Job Opportunities for CCNA-Certified Candidates
LinkedIn reports that there are over 26,000 job openings for CCNA-certified candidates. This number is expected to rise. There are many opportunities for employment. There are many job opportunities to consider.
Technical Support Engineer
Systems Engineer
Network Administrator
Information Technology (IT) Manager
Senior Network Engineer
Network Security Specialist
These job openings are proof that many tech companies are actively seeking CCNA-certified candidates. Many tech companies are always looking for people who have networking skills.
Advantages of CCNA Certification
Here are the benefits of choosing CCNA as a career:
An Attractive Starting Paycheck
Don’t forget about the money. Senior Network Engineers have the potential to earn high salaries. As a System Administrator, you can earn up to Rs. 450,000 per year.
A CCNA position is a great opportunity for someone who is just starting out in this industry.
Globally Accepted Certification
Cisco is the market leader in technology. This certification is popular for demonstrating your networking skills. It is the basis for a successful and long-lasting career.
Cisco certifications will help you stand out from the crowd. You have the right to be better at work than your peers.
Doorway to Multiple Domains
CCNA is much more than networking. If you fully immerse yourself in CCNA, you can open up many different career paths. These include:
Cloud computing
Cybersecurity
Defense
Space
Linux Administrator
Virtualization
The list could continue. CCNA opens up many career opportunities. CCNA is the best: you have nothing at all to lose and only gain.
Value for Money
You can enroll in a CCNA course today. It would be worth it. Cisco devices are used by almost every company. Cisco routers are easy to learn.
If you choose Juniper Networks, your career may not progress. It depends on you. Do you approach your studies with a futuristic perspective?
Disadvantages of Choosing CCNA
We have already discussed the positives and benefits of choosing CCNA as a career. Now let’s discuss the cons of choosing CCNA. You know that there are always positive and negative aspects to anything.
Cloud Computing is More Popular Than Networking
A Cloud Engineer may earn up to four times more than a network engineer. This is due in part to the widespread adoption of cloud computing. Cloud computing is booming.
94% of enterprises have moved their data to the cloud. Cloud computing has become a hot topic. Network Engineering is still alive. It is still in high demand. You’ll be surprised to find out that even the four tech giants, including MAANG, rely on physical data centers.
There is a high demand within these companies for Network Engineers. Google allows you to search for Network Engineering positions and find up to 7,555 available positions. This is a great number.
The CCNA Exam Costs Too Much
You will have to pay $300 to take the Cisco 200-301 exam. This is a large amount of money to pay for a single test.
The value of the exam can be worth it. Once you have the certification, you can apply for many jobs.
Company Profile is an initiative by StartupTalky to publish verified information on different startups and organizations. The content in this post has been approved by Athelas.
When patients visit a healthcare facility, their primary aim is to get diagnosed, become well, and go home as soon as possible. Even increasing disease burden and rising healthcare costs in the United States have already led to the emergence of healthcare at-home services.
The Covid-19 pandemic has also shown people that home healthcare has to be a thing and is much better in several ways than the traditional care model. Athelas is one of the most prominent startups that has made it possible for the world to access healthcare facilities at home.
This article will tell you everything about Athelas- its founders, startup story, funding, products, business and revenue model, growth, and more.
Athelas is a developer of remote patient monitoring technology. The team of technologists build the medical products’ next generation at the intersection of hardware and software. Athelas brings world-class tools of hospitals to patients’ homes. It develops blood testing devices that use deep learning and computer vision.
Moreover, thousands of healthcare organizations utilize Athelas software for medical billing, launching telehealth programs, and providing better patient care. More than 50,000 patients in the US trust the company.
Athelas – Industry
Athelas is running a business in the Biotechnology industry. Biotechnology is a branch of science that involves researching and developing products by using biological systems, living creatures, or elements out of them. Biochemistry, genetics, and molecular biology are some fields in biotechnology.
The global market size of the biotechnology market was valued at $859.94 billion in 2022 and is projected to grow to $1,683.52 billion by 2030, with a CAGR of 8.7% during 2023-2030. The Covid-19 pandemic has positively influenced the growth of the biotechnology market by increasing opportunities and advancements for drug development and manufacturing vaccines for the disease.
Biotechnology Market Size
In addition to Athelas, some key players in the global biotechnology industry are AstraZeneca, Sanofi, Gilead Sciences, Inc., Amgen Inc., Abbot Laboratories, and more.
Athelas – Founders and Team
Tanay Tandon and Deepika Bodapati are the founders of Athelas.
Tanay Tandon
Tanay Tandon attended Stanford University to graduate in Computer Science. He has worked as a Developer at Clipped.me and Software Engineer at Wit.ai.
Moreover, he is MetaMind’s ex-Researcher and worked as Researcher in Stanford University’s AI Department. Currently, Tanay is the Co-Founder and CEO at Athelas.
Tanay Tandon – Co-founder and CEO, Athelas
Deepika Bodapati
Deepika Bodapati earned a degree in molecular biology from the University of Cincinnati. She has been an ex-Researcher at NASA Ames Research Center and Stanford University, Multimodality Molecular Imaging LAB (MMIL). Now, she is the Co-Founder of Athelas.
Deepika Bodapati – Co-founder, Athelas
Athelas currently employs more than 210 employees.
Athelas – Startup Story
Athelas was founded by Tanay Tandon and Deepika Bodapati in 2016. When they attended Y Combinator the same year, they came across a handful of potential competitors, but none had conducted a clinical trial yet. Tanay and Deepika knew this was the opportunity to stand out to potential partners, customers, and collaborators.
They knew there would be no company without a trial. Therefore, in 2016, they conducted their first clinical trial for Athelas One at the hospital in Juarez, Mexico, and the hospital instantly saw the value in the device. While testing the device on patients, Tanay and Deepika found that one patient has leukemia after seeing the test results. And hospital took another three weeks to confirm the patient’s leukemia diagnosis.
During that period, Tanay and Deepika thought that what if all these tests could be done within a few minutes using cheap medical products? That’s when it clicked, and Athelas is continuing its operation with the same idea.
Athelas aims to bring simple, life-changing healthcare products to people around the world. The company envisions bringing world-class healthcare tools to individuals’ homes.
Athelas – Logo and Tagline
Athelas has an attractive tagline reflecting its mission and vision, i.e., “The Future of Healthcare is at the Home.”
Athelas – Business Model
Athelas make billing and reimbursement easier for healthcare organizations. The company’s Revenue Cycle Management (RCM) delivers high-quality service, maximizes reimbursements, and equips hospitals with actionable insights into their financial health.
Moreover, Athelas provides affordable medical testing devices to healthcare providers enabling them to monitor patients’ vitals, such as weight, blood pressure, and blood glucose, without letting patients enter a clinic. It helps improve patient health and engagement while reducing hospitalizations.
Test Drive Insights | Athelas Revenue Cycle Management
Athelas – Revenue Model
Instead of selling its medical devices directly to consumers, Athelas distributes them via healthcare providers. The company charges a subscription for each medical device when sent to the patient’s home.
Athelas – Products and Services
The company’s products include Athelas Home, Doctor App, Scribe, Pill Track, Care Management, Revenue Cycle Management, and EHR integration. In addition, it offers a Blood Pressure Monitor, Glucometer, and Weight Scale.
Athelas – Challenges Faced
Athelas’s first set of progress was slow. The college workload at Stanford and the increasing costs of hardware iterations made it difficult for the co-founders to operate with the iteration speeds that a normal product needs.
Athelas – Funding and Investors
Athelas raised a total of $150.1 million over 4 funding rounds. Its latest funding round – Venture Series Unknown Round, was conducted on January 31, 2021, and secured $59.4 million. 19 investors back the company; the main ones are Sequoia Capital, Fifty Years General Catalyst, and Tribe Capital.
Date
Round
Number of Investors
Money Raised
Lead Investor
January 31, 2021
Venture Round
7
$59.4 million
Tribe Capital
August 10, 2020
Series B
2
$72 million
General Catalyst
February 1, 2019
Series A
2
$15 million
Georges Harik
August 28, 2017
Seed Round
14
$3.7 million
Sequoia Capital
Athelas – Growth
Athelas’ monthly active users increased from 2,000 in 2021 to 20,000 in 2022. The company’s estimated annual revenue was $47.7 million per year ($235,953 revenue per employee), with its valuation in January 2022 as $1.5 billion. Furthermore, Athelas’s employee count increased by 38% last year, and the monthly web visits growth rate is -33.49%, with 66,260 monthly visits.
Athelas – Partners
Athelas has partnered with many hospitals, clinic groups, physicians, home healthcare agencies, and accountable care organizations. Some of its partners are as follows:
Athelas is a developer of remote patient monitoring technology. The team of technologists build the medical products’ next generation at the intersection of hardware and software. Athelas brings world-class tools of hospitals to patients’ homes. It develops blood testing devices that use deep learning and computer vision.
Who are the founders of Athelas?
Tanay Tandon and Deepika Bodapati are the founders of Athelas.
This article has been contributed by Sanjay Sehgal, Founder, Chairman, and CEO, MSys Technologies.
Your dream of launching a startup is not a dream anymore. You have successfully launched your business, developed it, and chalked out the next plan. But how about scaling up your business? Every year, hundreds of startups open their doors, but only a small percentage of them survive globally. Only one in 200 of them can successfully scale up their business. While 74% of startups fail because of premature scaling, the rest do not know when to scale, and they end up being small companies that eventually get shut down or go through a fire sale to another company.
Starting a business is not enough. Understanding when your business is ready for scale-up and how that will happen is quite crucial and is also heavily dependent on the availability of funds.
The Difference Between Growing a Startup and Scaling a Startup
Startup growth is about having a consistent customer base and a steady flow of resources. The company has a larger influx of money, which results in more production and increased hiring. Finally, the company starts using a more refined marketing budget.
But for startup scaling, it is different. In this case, the startup grows exponentially and makes more profit. However, the investment remains more or less the same. In this case, the business has already gone through the growth stage, and now it is ready to gain more customers and revenue without increasing expenses or needing more funds.
Let’s understand this with an example. You started a company that used to cater to a small locality of 1,000 people. Now, you have ensured growth to service a part of the city that will comprise 50,000 people. But now, you have to scale up your business, as you will have to be prepared to serve 10 lakh people residing in the city and then eventually expand to other cities and, who knows, other parts of the world. All this could create overwhelming demand that will paralyze your business.
When to Think About Scaling Up Your Business?
The idea of scaling up is tempting. But at the same time, you have to keep in mind that premature scaling will leave you bankrupt. So, to understand when you can accelerate growth for your business, you have to have some checkpoints.
A Reliable Customer Base
Having a large, referencable customer base will help your business grow exponentially and generate more revenue. It proves that you are actually solving the real problems of customers, which will give you market stability. Also, there is another thing that you will have to keep in mind. Having a loyal customer base means that your customers will repeat their purchases, and they will also be your endorsers, generating more indirect sales for you. Make sure you have the employees and inventory to manage the demand.
Achieving Previous Targets
When you started your business, you surely had some goals in mind. So, now that you are considering scaling your business, have you achieved those goals? If you have achieved them, then great. But if you have not, then before you think of growth, find the pain point and reflect on what stopped you before.
Positive Cash Flow
There is a difference between business profitability and cash flow. While profits prove that your business ideas are viable and in demand, your cash flow is required to stay afloat. A positive cash flow means that you are making more money than you need to sustain your business. To achieve this, you can take an advance from the customers, speed up your invoice system, and accelerate the process of cash conversion.
Valid Concept and Robust Infrastructure
Before you focus on the active growth process, you need to make sure that every part of your business is working like a well-oiled machine. The concept that you started your business with, is it a valid one and working in the market? Can you upgrade it for some sales and profit? Is the internal business structure adequate to support scaling? Ask yourself these questions to understand if this is the right time to scale.
Analyse scenarios to Minimize Risks
Scaling up your business will be risky. You will face many challenges. But this does not mean you cannot deal with these risks. You can analyze the risks first under various scenarios and then minimize them with the help of effective strategies.
How to Scale Up Your Startup
Now that you have already recognized how prepared you are for scaling up your business, let’s find out how you can do that.
Automate More
For scaling up, saving resources, reducing errors, and getting real-time activities are necessary. Automation is the best way to ensure all of these. Using chatbots can help you provide real-time customer support without much chance of error. On the other hand, automation can gather customer data and analyze it while taking care of payroll within the company. In fact, today, with the help of AI, you can reduce the necessity of using more resources for marketing too.
Know the Expectations of Your Customer
Unless you know what your customers expect from you, you won’t be able to manage them and cater to their needs. For that, you need to do the research. You need to use tools and resources to find out how your competitors are getting an edge in the market. For your MVP or the first batch of products, gather customer feedback and use that constructively to improvise.
Invest in Technology
Now that you know what your customers are looking for, it is time to invest in the right kind of technology. Use software systems that will help you increase production, increase efficiency, and reduce pain points. At the same time, ensuring the safety of the software systems is also a must. In this case, partnering with a SaaS company can be a good decision.
Plan Effective Marketing
How are people going to know about your product unless you make them see what you are offering? Hence, investing in marketing strategies is a must. From content marketing, SEO, PPC, and social media marketing to print and digital advertising, leave no stone unturned. Create the right brand persona and reinforce that with your strategies.
Funding and Steady Revenue
Yes, your goal is to scale your business while keeping the budget more or less the same. But let’s face it. When we are talking about a sustainable business model, having the right funding and a steady flow of revenue is important. Approach angel investors or VCs so that you can carry on and increase production, which will, in turn, bring you more revenue.
Conclusion
Now, while doing all of these, stay calm. Getting overwhelmed will result in making the wrong decisions or procrastinating. So, the go-to advice is to take a pause, reflect, and meditate. Get clarity on what you want to do with your business. Then tread forward.
Archana Karthikeyan
