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  • 10 Best AI Text-To-Image Generators in 2023

    In this digital era of technology, AI is emerging as a way to make work easier and faster. Companies are adopting AI to build software with advanced capabilities. Text-to-image is a feature of software powered by AI to convert natural language inputs into visually appealing images.

    An image is a great way to express something in a way that positively hits the viewer’s mind. You might be amazed to know the fact that the Human mind can process images almost 60,000 times faster than normal text. This is one of the reasons why companies prefer images over text for advertisements and marketing campaigns on social media.

    Thanks to AI, we have opportunities to create visually appealing images from text input. In simple words, you can use a text-to-image generator to create images. So for the sake of your convenience, we have provided the list of the best text-to-image generators along with their salient features, pros, cons, and pricing.

    What Is a Text-To-Image Generator?
    List of Top 10 Text-to-Image Generators

    1. Photosonic
    2. Jasper.ai Art
    3. Dall-E
    4. Fotor
    5. Midjourney
    6. Nightcafe
    7. Canva
    8. Stable Diffusion
    9. Dreamstudio
    10. StarryAI

    What Is a Text-To-Image Generator?

    Text-to-image generator is a software that generates images based on the input you provide. For example, If you want an image of a red car flying in the air, you can easily create that image just by typing this input into the search field.

    Global AI market size from 2022 to 2026

    A deep learning algorithm and technology like generative adversarial networks (GANs) work behind the scenes for the processing of each input. The GAN consists of a generator and discriminator, whenever you pass any input to the software, the generator synthesizes an image based on the query and sends it to the discriminator. The discriminator distinguishes the image and sends it to the generator for modification. The process goes on again and again until it creates a perfect image for you. The technology keeps updating with time and this text-to-image generator is becoming more powerful day by day with different updates.

    List of Top 10 Text-to-Image Generators

    Text-to-image generators allow us to generate images based on a text description. Text generation models can be used together with text-to-image models to create diverse text prompts. It helps to shape our imaginations and create beautiful images. Let us discuss some of the best AI-based Text-To-Image Generators.

    Photosonic

    Rating 3.4/5
    Launched in 2020

    Photosonic is an AI tool of the very popular AI-based content creation company Writesonic. It started its operation in October 2020, this company has raised more than 2.6 million in funding. Since Writesonic was already engaged in the development of AI to make content production easier for companies, Photosonic is a great addition to their list.

    Photosonic 

    This tool has the capability to convert your imagination into digital art that you can use in your project. Varieties of options are available to give your art a texture, like painting, illustrator, 3-D, cartoon, fantasy, anime, etc. Whatever prompts you, type it in the search field, and it will provide you with the best results as per your requirement.

    Square, vertical, and horizontal are the orientation of the image which you can choose to create the perfect fit for your image. It offers a free plan in which you will get 15 credits that you can utilize to generate images.

    Pros:

    • Availability of free plan
    • Full right to use images commercially
    • Based on the latent diffusion model
    • Simple to use

    Cons:

    • Images are sometimes blurry and distorted
    • Less credit in the free plan

    Pricing:

    • Free: $0 /month (15 credits)
    • Basic: $10 /month
    • Unlimited: $30 /month

    Jasper.ai Art

    Rating 4.5/5
    Launched in 2021

    Jasper Art is an incredible tool to generate images using text prompts. The AI of this tool is well-trained and capable of identifying the difference between a sad dog and a happy dog. You can apply different styles, moods, and mediums to your imagination by selecting the appropriate option from the dropdown menu, which again enhances the quality of your images significantly.

    Jasper.ai Art

    The most interesting part of this tool is “No credit”, yes you’ve heard right, while other text-to-image generators use credit systems to generate images, this tool provides unlimited image generation facility with their plan ” Jasper Art Unlimited”. Although you are not provided with any separate free plan to test this tool, you get 5 days of free access to the tool in the paid plan at no additional cost.

    The amazing part is that you can create up to 200 images in the 5-day free access with 2k resolution, and after that unlimited images with a paid plan. There is a separate knowledge base provided by the company to help you use their tool more effectively. This simple and powerful AI tool will skyrocket your productivity through realistic images of your imagination.

    Pros:

    • 2K high-resolution images
    • Very Simple to use interface
    • No credit limit
    • Variety of styles, moods, mediums, and keywords to choose from
    • You can use images commercially

    Cons:

    • Not separate free plan
    • Can’t adjust generated images

    Pricing:

    • Jasper Art unlimited: $20 /user/month


    Click here to get Jasper.ai

    Dall-E

    Rating 4.2/5
    Launched in 2021

    Dall-E is a new AI system that can create realistic images from the description of natural language. It’s a very popular text-to-image generator created by Open.ai and has a separate craze in the market. No doubt! Creating images from text is an integral feature of this tool but on top of that, it can also edit the existing image according to your need so that looks damn real.

    Dall-E

    Launched in January 2021, Dall-E gathered so much popularity among the people, and soon after one year of launch, Open.ai released the updated version of Dall-E with the name Dall-E 2. Dall-E 2 is more efficient and capable than the previous version which can create images with 4X greater resolution.

    Also, you can create different variations of the generated image and make them more unique. Keep in mind that every time you create an image, it will cost you one credit, and every time you try different variations, it will charge an additional credit. Overall, Dall-E is a great tool to consider for generating images from a text prompt.

    Pros:

    • Availability of free 50 credits without a time limit
    • The image creation process is relatively fast
    • Image variations
    • Editor to edit the generated image
    • Filters violating, hateful, and sexual prompt

    Cons:

    • Low art quality for some prompt
    • Don’t have the option to choose an art style

    Pricing:

    • Free: 50 credits on first-time signup and 15 credit every month
    • Paid: 115 credits for $15 on top of the free credits

    Fotor

    Rating 4.4/5
    Launched in 2009

    The Fotor AI image generator is the most powerful yet underrated AI image generator that holds amazing capabilities to create high-resolution images from a text prompt. The most interesting part is that it is completely free to use, and you can create unlimited high-quality images. The more Description you provide in the search box, the more accurate result you’ll get.

    Fotor

    Once you’ve generated your image, you can play with different styles and apply them to the newly generated image to get the desired result. It supports the length and width of images between 512 Px to 2048 Px. You can also select the orientation of the image from the square, landscape, or vertical.

    Whenever you refresh the image, it will generate a different image from the same text prompt and whenever you choose from a different style it will refresh the image and apply the style in no time.

    Pros:

    • Ability to generate image within 10 seconds
    • Completely free to use
    • High-quality image
    • Different styles to choose
    • Ability to create an image from the image

    Cons:

    • Only 10 image generation per day

    Pricing: Free to use


    Click here to get Fotor

    Midjourney

    Rating 4.7/5
    Launched in 2022

    Midjourney is a text-to-image generator that is developed by an independent research lab. It is a self-funded initiative of some people to harmonize design with AI. To access this tool and create realistic high-quality images, you need an account on discord, because Midjourney is only accessible as a bot on the discord app.

    Midjourney

    Images generated by this tool are of high resolution and come with different variations. To generate an image, you need to first go to the Midjourney website and click on the button “Join the beta”, after that you’ll get a ship-like icon on your discord app. Just click on the icon and join any newbie room to start generating images. Use the command prompt and type your text description of whatever you want to create.

    Midjourney creates four variations of each image and you can try different variations to get the appropriate result. Also, keep in mind that it doesn’t work on a credit system, it works on a minute session system. This means, whenever you type a prompt in the command field it takes some time to render the image, that time is deducted from your plan.

    The process of generating an image takes GPU resources, hence it provides two options in their pricing plan, Fast GPU time and Relaxed GPU time. The simple difference between these two is, the Fast GPU time generates the image in priority and is faster than the relaxed GPU time.

    Pros:

    • High-resolution images
    • Different variations
    • Personal bot chat
    • Reasonable pricing
    • Community gallery access

    Cons:

    • Complex to use
    • Available only through discord
    • Private visibility feature at an additional cost of $20/month

    Pricing:

    • Free: 25 min/Lifetime
    • Basic: $10/month and 200 min/month
    • Standard: $30/month and 15 hrs/month
    • Corporate: $600/month and 120 hrs/month

    Nightcafe

    Rating 5/5
    Launched in 2019

    Turn your imagination into reality by leveraging the benefits of Nightcafe, an AI-based tool. Headquartered in Cairn, Australia, it generated more than 35 million artworks till October 2022. Since it also generates images from the text prompt, there are some features that distinguish it from the rest. Let’s have a closer look at its unique features.

    Nightcafe

    Nightcafe offers different algorithms that work on the backend to create beautiful images like Stable diffusion, CLIP+Guided diffusion also known as coherent, VQGAN+CLIP also known as Artistic, and OpenAi Dall-e 2 algorithm. You can choose any of the following algorithms and also choose varieties of styles to create your masterpiece.

    Apart from creating images from text, you can also make appropriate changes to the existing image. After uploading the image, you are required to enter the text description with the changes you want in your image. One drawback of Nightcafe is that you need to pay extra credits for higher-resolution images.

    Pros:

    • Different algorithms to choose from
    • Varieties of styles
    • Advanced option
    • Your creation belongs to you

    Cons:

    • Charge extra credits for high-resolution image
    • Only 5 credits available to try this tool

    Pricing:

    • AI Hobbyist: $9.99 /month
    • AI Enthusiast: $19.99 /month
    • AI Artist: $49.99 /month
    • AI Professional: $79.99 /month

    Canva

    Rating 4.7/5
    Launched in 2012

    Canva is not a new name for designers and anyone who loves to design. Since Canva offers varieties of designing services and is the leader in this segment, then how can it lag behind in the race of text-to-image generation? Recently Canva has launched its text-to-image generation AI to empower designers to create unique pieces of images.

    Canva

    Because it is also evolving its technology like other AI tools, you might have to face some distortion in the image. One major plus point of the Canva text-to-image generating tool is that it is completely free to use, with no credit limit. You can directly use the generated image in the project you are working on.

    Different styles like photo, drawing, 3-D, painting, pattern and concept art are available to give an image a different look and feel. After typing the text prompt and selecting the desired style, you only need to hit the generate button and boom! Your unique image is ready to use.

    Pros:

    • Free of cost
    • Unlimited image generation
    • Very easy to use
    • Different styles are available to choose from
    • Easy implementation in an ongoing project

    Cons:

    • Sometimes takes a long time to generate images

    Pricing:

    • Basic: $0
    • Canva pro: $49.99/ year


    Click here to get Canva

    Stable Diffusion

    Rating 4.6/5
    Launched in 2022

    AI-based photo-realistic images are the trend nowadays and Stable Diffusion is fueling this ongoing trend with its robust text-to-image generator. The most fascinating thing is that it doesn’t charge a single penny from you for the generation of images. It generates images on Nvidia and AMD GPUs of more than 6GB RAM to provide high-quality images in a short period.

    Stable Diffusion

    To increase efficiency and help you generate more accurate images, it provides a prompt database of more than 9 million searches. You can utilize this database and learn how to enter the text prompt effectively to generate high-quality intended images with less distortion.

    The most important thing is that it takes care of your privacy seriously, it never stores any of your personal information, text prompts, or images. Even if you want to share your design, there is a separate button for it to share with the community, otherwise, it will remain private for you.

    Since it is open source, you can install it locally on your computer and start creating AI images at no cost. Their AI community will help you with all the setup. Make sure you have an Nvidia GPU with more than 6 GB of ram for quick image generation.

    Pros:

    • Easy-to-use interface
    • Doesn’t store any data about text and images
    • A huge database of text prompts
    • Advanced setting option
    • High-quality images
    • Free to use
    • Can install it locally

    Cons:

    • Doesn’t have an option for styling and variations

    Pricing:

    • Free of cost

    Dreamstudio

    Rating 4.5/5
    Launched in 2006

    Dreamstudio beta is an image generation AI powered by stability.ai. Don’t be confused between Dreamstudio beta and Stable Diffusion because both are powered by stability.ai, the only difference is that Stable Diffusion is open source and Dreamstudio is paid one. Dreamstudio provides free 100 credits to test the product and if you like to continue then you can purchase additional credits.

    Dreamstudio

    There is flexibility to utilize the credits based on the size and resolution of the image and it costs somewhere between 0.5 credits to 9.5 credits per image. The higher the resolution, the higher credit it will charge. It is empowered to create realistic images, art, portraits, paintings, and as many things as you can imagine and write in the text prompt properly.

    Numerous options are available to choose from and get the desired result that best suits your imagination. Additionally, you have the flexibility to choose the different versions of the Stable Diffusion algorithm.

    Pros:

    • Cheaper than competitor
    • Simple to use UI
    • Vast styling option
    • Ability to choose from different stable diffusion versions
    • High-resolution images

    Cons:

    • Need to pay high credit for high-resolution images

    Pricing:

    • 100 free credits

    StarryAI

    Rating 4.4/5
    Launched in 2021

    StarryAI is another AI art generation tool that is also available in the form of iOS and Android mobile apps. To turn your imagination into reality and make images from natural language descriptions, this tool provides 5 free credits every day. It means you can leverage the benefit of AI image generation every day at no cost if you don’t want so many images.

    Starryai

    Just like other text-to-image generation tools, it also offers varieties of styles to choose from, and on top of that, you can create your own collection of art images. There is an explore tab in which you can see the images of other creators who’ve published their art in the community, you can take inspiration and make your own.

    The most fascinating thing is that you can earn credits for image and video creation after completing certain tasks, like sharing the artwork on social media, watching ads, etc.‌‌

    Pros:

    • Easy to use
    • Different styles
    • Availability of iOS and Android app
    • Cheaper alternative
    • Credits Top-up everyday

    Cons:

    • So many distortions
    • Creation is not always perfect

    Pricing:

    • 5 free credits every day

    Conclusion

    AI has made text-to-image generation easier and faster without any prior experience in designing. These tools will empower you to turn your imagination into realistic images with so many styling options. So choose the tool and figure out the best one that suits your needs.

    FAQ

    How do AI image generators work?

    The technology can vary but most AI image generators use diffusion models. These work by destroying their training data through the addition of Gaussian noise, and then reversing the process to remove noise from the image.

    Is DALL-E free to use?

    Dall-E is not entirely free. The service runs on “credits”.You get 50 free credits at signup, and then 15 credits free per month after that.

    What is the AI image generator?

    The AI image generator is a tool that can be used to generate realistic images from text.

    Which is the best text-to-image AI?

    The top AI Art Generators are as follows

    • Nightcafe
    • DALL-E
    • StarryAI
    • Fotor
    • Dreamstudio
    • Stable Diffusion
    • Canva
    • Midjourney
    • Fotor
    • Dall-E
    • Photosonic
    • Jasper.ai Art‌‌‌‌‌‌

  • Mamaearth’s IPO – A Beautiful Dream or Disaster?

    Mamaearth is an Indian company engaged in selling Health, Wellness and Fitness products.  The company was founded by Varun and Ghazal Alagh in the year 2016 and is headquartered in Gurgaon. It grew exponentially and reached a net worth of INR 115 crore in just four years.

    Mamaearth is the flagship brand of Honasa Consumer Limited, which started as a digital-first consumer brand. Its other brand portfolio includes brands such as BBlunt and Aqualogica. The brand is planning to launch an IPO and has filed the Draft Red Herring Prospectus (DHRP) with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) on December 20, 2022.

    IPO Details of Mamaearth
    The Grey Area
    How an IPO Is Valued or Priced?
    IPO Valuation of Mamaearth

    IPO Details of Mamaearth

    The company has proposed an IPO worth INR 2900 crores.  The IPO will consist of a fresh issue of shares worth INR 400 crores and an Offer For Shares (OFS) of approximately 46.8 million shares. The funds raised through the IPO will primarily be used for improving brand visibility and advertising as well as opening exclusive brand outlets.

    The company’s founders Varun and Ghazal Alagh along with other investors like Sofina, Fireside Ventures, Evolvence India, Stellaris and angel investors like Kunal Bahl, Rohit Bansal, Rishabh Mariwala and actor Shilpa Shetty will sell a part of their stakes in the company through the OFS.

    Mamaearth's Shareholding Pattern and the Angel Investments in the Startup
    Mamaearth’s Shareholding Pattern and the Angel Investments in the Startup

    The list below gives a detailed view of the angel investments in Mamaearth.

    Angels Invested YOI Valuation
    Suhail Sameer ₹15 lakh 2016 $2 million
    Vijay Nehra ₹15 lakh 2016 $2 million
    Shashank Shekhar ₹15 lakh 2016 $2 million
    Kunal Bahl ₹69.6 lakh 2017 $5.16 million
    Rohit Bansal ₹69.6 lakh 2017 $5.16 million
    Shilpa Shetty ₹75.1 lakh 2018 $4.85 million

    The Grey Area

    There are several concerns floating on social media regarding the high valuation of Mamaearth.  The company which was valued at INR 120 crore in January 2022, is seeking a higher valuation of INR 300 crore through its IPO.  This target valuation is almost a thousand times higher than its registered profits.

    Mamaearth's Financials in FY22
    Mamaearth’s Financials in FY22

    The company does not have a consistent record of profitability.  While it posted a revenue of INR 932 crores with a net profit of INR 14 crores at the end of FY22, it registered a loss of INR 1332 crores in FY21 and INR 428 crore in FY20.  In the six months ending September 2022, Honasa Consumer posted a revenue of INR 722 crore with a net profit of INR 3.6 crore.  Apart from this, Honasa has also recorded a high advertising spend.  In FY22, the company spend approximately INR 391 crore on advertising, which is 40% of its revenue.  It has spent a similar percentage of its revenue on advertising in FY21, FY20 and the six-month period that ended in September 2022.

    All this information has led to a lot of speculation about the price MamaEarth will set for its IPO.  

    Sunil Damania, Chief Investment Officer of MarketsMojo says – “We doubt that management will go ahead with the higher price because there has been a lot of backlash on social media, especially given the amount of money Mamaearth is asking; whether you look at the market cap to sales ratio or the price to earnings ratio, which appears to be a little high.”

    Tech stocks globally are witnessing a downturn and many IPOs in the recent past have failed to maintain their initial high valuations, falling significantly since their listing.  Some prime examples include Zomato, Paytm and Nykaa.

    Sunil Damania continues – “Something similar could occur if Mamaearth opts for such a high valuation.  However, these are all speculative at the moment because neither the merchant banker nor the company has confirmed that they will proceed with this pricing.”

    Anirudh Damani, Founder of Artha Group has a different take.  He says – “I am jittery about all IPOs where more than 25% of the money getting raised does not go to the business i.e., it is an OFS from early investors and celebrity backers of the platform.  I have understood that almost 80% of this IPO will go towards OFS which does not bode well for public market investors.  It will be challenging to see any upside in the stock price with so many questions on super-premium valuation that will primarily provide exits to current shareholders.”

    How an IPO Is Valued or Priced?

    An Initial Public Offering or IPO listing is when a private company issue shares publicly in the stock market for the first time.  This is done either to raise more funds for expansion or to recover from losses or debts.  An audit is conducted for the company where all data regarding the company’s financials is carefully scrutinized.  This data includes the company’s assets, liabilities, revenue generation, market performance, etc.

    There are several methods in the IPO valuation process to define share value.  These methods are

    1. Relative Valuation through which the company’s share value is measured by considering the value of similar companies
    2. Absolute Valuation that measures the strength and financial status of the company
    3. Discounted Cash – Based Valuation that analyses expected cash flows, future performance, investment, potential revenue sources and more
    4. Economic Valuation considers various parameters like the business’s residual income, debts to be paid, assets value owned and liabilities, risk-bearing potential, etc.
    5. Price-to-Earning Multiple Valuation that compares the company’s market capitalization to its annual income.

    Mamaearth: Bringing Toxin-Free, Natural Skin Care Products To India
    Ghazal Alagh and Varun Alagh founded Mamaearth in 2016. Read on to know more about Mamaearth’s success story, business model, funding, and other aspects.
    StartupTalkyRishabh Rathi

    IPO Valuation of Mamaearth

    There are various factors that affect the price of shares offered in an IPO.  In relation to Mamaearth, these factors are:

    Financial Performance Over the Past Few Years

    Mamaearth’s financial performance has been erratic and it has not been in sustainable stable growth.

    Most of the tech stocks have failed to maintain their high valuations and have seen sharp declines in the recent past.

    Number of Stocks Issued by an IPO by a Particular Company

    The biggest concern is the OFS offer which is being seen as an exit strategy by many of the promoters of the company.

    Company’s Potential Growth Rate

    The amount raised from the IPO will be used to increase brand awareness and advertising but there is no clear direction.

    Company’s Business Model

    Mamaearth is primarily a digital-first company.  Its Return on Ad Spends (ROAS) has not improved in the last three years suggesting it has very few returning consumers.

    Recent Market Price of Companies Listed on the Stock Exchange

    Tech companies like Paytm, Zomato and Nykaa have all failed to sustain their stock prices.

    Conclusion

    MamaEarth is showing great courage by announcing an IPO at a time when tech stocks are witnessing a global slump. However, rising digital penetration, high disposable income, as well as growing awareness in the beauty and personal care segment give the company room for growth and expansion in the future.

    FAQ

    What is an IPO?

    IPO [Initial Public Offering] takes place when a private company issues share publicly for the first time in the stock market. Once the company declares an IPO, the stocks no longer remain private and are collectively owned by all shareholders.

    What are the Factors Affecting IPO Valuation?

    Here are several major factors that affect the price of the shares offered in an IPO

    • Company’s financial performance over the past few years
    • Share market trends
    • Number of stocks issued in an IPO by a particular company
    • Company’s Potential Growth Rate
    • The Recent Market Price of Companies Listed on the Stock Exchange

    How can you tell if an IPO is good or not?

    Thoroughly review the company’s business model, management credentials, and historical performance. A good starting point when evaluating the best IPO to buy is the red herring prospectus. It contains most of the information you need to evaluate the company.

    Is Mamaearth a private company?

    Yes, it is a Gurugram-based D2C babycare and skincare unicorn. Mamaearth could be converted into a public company as it readies for an IPO.

  • BANKIT Success Story – Making Digital Banking Accessible to Everyone

    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 BANKIT.

    BANKIT operates on a B2B2C business model to provide banking and financial solutions under one roof. The startup was officially founded in 2010, took seven years to research the market, and launched its first service in 2017. Founded by Amit Nigam and Satyajeet Limaye, BANKIT is all set to become India’s most trusted payment solutions company and create a ‘Millionaire Agents Network’.

    BANKIT focuses to give banking and monetary administrations to underserved individuals who face difficulties in financial offices and are not educated enough. The company’s 50,000+ agents are spread across PAN India across level 2, level 3, and level 4 urban areas and towns to help and furnish clients with banking and monetary offices.

    Walkthrough the exciting journey of BANKIT in this article, with highlights on BANKIT’s business model, how it started, its future plans and more.

    BANKIT – Company Highlights

    Startup Name BANKIT
    Headquarters Noida, Uttar Pradesh, India
    Industry Fintech
    Founder Amit Nigam
    Founded 2010
    Launch Date 2017
    Revenue $15.1 million per year (approx)
    Website bankit.in

    BANKIT – About
    BANKIT – Industry Details
    BANKIT – Startup Story
    BANKIT – Founders and Team
    BANKIT – Name and Logo
    BANKIT – Product and USP
    BANKIT – Business Model and Revenue Model
    BANKIT – Startup Launch & Marketing Strategy
    BANKIT – Growth
    BANKIT – Challenges Faced
    BANKIT – Competitors
    BANKIT – Future Plans

    BANKIT – About

    Being a fintech company, BANKIT operates on a B2B2C business model to provide banking and financial solutions under one roof. It partnered with 15,000 neighbourhood retail stores in tier 2 and tier 3 areas of India, which can offer assisted digital financial services like Domestic Money Transfer, Cash out through APES/ micro ATM, also it has its own Prepaid card apart from additional services in Recharges, Utility Bill payments, loan, Insurance, Travel Booking, etc.

    The company has over 80,000 outlets in 29 states that target to strengthen its presence in tier 2 and tier 3 areas with financial services. Recently, the company launched prepaid card solutions for corporates. Also, the vision of the company is to make a “Millionaire Agents Network” (MAN). It wants to maximize the number of agents who are able to make Rs. 10 lakhs as revenue in a year by delivering various BANKIT services.

    BANKIT – Industry Details

    According to Mr. Amit Nigam, the fintech industry is at the evolving stage to become three times more valuable in the coming 3-5 years. Gladly the government is helping companies to modify their services that add extra creation and strengthen the business. The Indian fintech market is expected to reach a valuation of $150-160 billion by 2025.

    BANKIT – Startup Story

    The journey of BANKIT started with Amit Nigam, who was also one of the founding members of Spice Money. During that journey, he understood the gap in banking requirements in backward areas. Hence, the idea of BANKIT arrived, where he targeted to enable the unbanked and underserved portions of the country by protected, secure, and advantageous banking, finance, and payment arrangements. BANKIT provides the fastest and easiest money transfer to around 400 banks, based on IMPS technology. It provides safe and instant domestic money remittances. The company was founded in 2010, took seven years to analyse the market, identify gaps, and determine the need for banking services in different states, and launched its first service in 2017.

    The founders of BANKIT got in touch with a lot of family members and friends to discuss the idea; many of them gave positive feedback and were impressed by the larger mission that it was to serve. A few of them connected and joined hands, and support was extended in terms of manpower to create an incredible team.

    MobiKwik Success Story – Business Model | Founders | Revenue | Funding
    MobiKwik is one of the largest mobile wallets in India. Read about MobiKwik owner, founder, valuation, business model, revenue, and competitors.
    StartupTalkyShubham Kumar

    BANKIT – Founders and Team

    Amit Nigam - Founder of BANKIT
    Amit Nigam – Founder of BANKIT

    BANKIT is the brainchild of Amit Nigam, a fintech leader with extensive experience of more than 22 years who has worked at the top of management in telecom, FMCG, and fintech companies like Airtel and Aditya Birla Group. Amit serves as the Executive Director and COO at BANKIT. He was also one of the founders of Spice Money. He is an experienced leader with skills in leading direct reports as well as cross-functional teams, justifying new product development investments, determining and documenting new product requirements, developing sales forecasts and product pricing, and launching new products into the marketplace. He also supervises the key management of large-scale projects for the company.

    Whereas, Mr. Satyajeet Limaye, Chief Strategy Officer, works alongside Amit Nigam to lead equity deals on both the buy and sell sides, incubating, challenging strategy, and restructuring revenue streams through strategy and financial analytics.

    BANKIT Logo
    BANKIT Logo

    The team at BANKIT wanted to connect and be relatable to the masses and wanted the name to be relatable with its mission of providing banking and financial services to the last mile.

    BANKIT – Product and USP

    BANKIT offers financial services to clients through its retail channels, outlets, and banking specialists. Monetary Services are effectively accessible at neighborhood shops. Individuals can visit the closest specialists for administrations with no reports. BANKIT is a stage that has various Banking, Financial, and Payment administrations under one roof and it continues to add more to it as indicated by the client’s needs.

    BANKIT focuses on providing banking and financial services to underserved individuals who face difficulties in financial offices and are undereducated. The company’s 50,000+ agents are spread across PAN India across level 2, level 3, and level 4 urban areas/towns to help and furnish clients with banking and monetary offices. It offers B2B2C administrations that address dual-purpose occupations for specialists who offer various types of assistance to buyers and help clients with our quick, simple Banking, Financial, and Payment administrations that require no documentation.

    The USP of BANKIT is its web-based interface and versatile application, which is easy to use and user-friendly for the end customers. Its portal and app are much more secure, authentic, and easy to use, if a customer is registered (prior done any exchange with BANKIT) his cash can be sent with 2-3 ticks just right away. The startup continues to update its app and portal according to the client’s needs. BANKIT has added numerous new administrations and guarantees free miniature advances for its agents, which was of great importance and ended up being helpful for the representatives just as much as for the clients. BANKIT is a solitary stage for various administrations accessible 24×7.

    BANKIT – Business Model and Revenue Model

    Being a fintech organization, BANKIT works on a business-to-business-to-client plan of action to bring banking and monetary arrangements under one roof. It offers financial services like Domestic Money Transfer, and cashouts through APES/miniature ATMs, and has its own prepaid card separate from extra administrations like recharges, utility bill instalments, insurance, travel booking, and so on. Its cutting-edge arrangements are intended to make monetary exchanges consistent, simple, and fast to engage the Agents.

    The company offers types of assistance to the purchasers through its agent organization, and for help like DMT, it charges customers @1% on the settlement business according to RBI rules. Different models like money withdrawals through AePS/mATM, Mobile/DTH/Fastag, recharges, bill payments, protection, CMS, and so on are either through banks or aggregators. BANKIT gets a commission from them, which it gives to the retail channel.

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    BANKIT – Startup Launch & Marketing Strategy

    As BANKIT’s target group is mainly from rural and semi-urban areas, the team approached retailers through direct marketing via sales personnel. The response received from the same proved to be successful and many retailers joined hands with BANKIT.

    The COVID-19 pandemic and induced lockdown forced a lot of migrant workers from urban areas to internally migrate back to their hometowns. BANKIT utilised this opportunity to help these people get opportunities locally and thus get more people on board for its larger mission.

    BANKIT – Growth and Revenue

    Noida-headquartered start-up BANKIT has a presence in 29 states with more than 70,000 correspondents and 50,000 agents. Its significant business comes from Andhra Pradesh, Orissa, Telangana, Bihar, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Rajasthan, etc. The fintech stalwart’s estimated annual revenue is currently $15.1 million per year.

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    BANKIT – Challenges Faced

    The team has experienced a huge number of difficulties all throughout their excursion, but the one prominent one that can be highlighted is its colossal business work during the Coronavirus lockdown.

    At the point when the Coronavirus began influencing the Indian business market, the test was to re-plan the business and showcase systems totally at an ideal opportunity to settle and develop the business. The team was happy that BANKIT was not simply made due in the hardest season of the World yet, in addition, made the greatest business in lockdown as the interest of banking and monetary administrations gathered by buyers and BANKIT was prepared to give something very similar in those difficult occasions.

    Since BANKIT began its first activity, it has seen that organizations have been confronting a few challenges during this pandemic opportunity to support on the lookout however for them, their huge line of administrations assisted BANKIT to cope in this difficult time and spotlight move on sought after administrations like Cash-out help has turned out a distinct advantage for its business. The company has enlisted the greatest income development and exchanges in the midst of the lockdown and has seen an upward pattern for a few of its contributions.

    BANKIT – Competitors

    Some of the prominent competitors of BANKIT are PayNearby, Fino PaymentS Bank and Spice Money.

    BANKIT – Future Plans

    The organization has kept an objective to add 1 lakh+ such outlets in the metropolitan and rustic piece of the country in this monetary year under its channel extension plan. Additionally, the organization is intending to dispatch another line of items and administrations in the coming months.

    BANKIT wants to be the pioneer in the formation of a new India where everyone has access to banking facilities and doesn’t have to struggle for basic banking and financial needs. With the vision to become India’s largest and most trusted payment solutions company, the team is working to open more than 10,000 digital and brand BANKIT stores across the country. The startup aims to translate the vision of the government of digitizing rural India and making new entrepreneurs.

    FAQs

    What is BANKIT?

    BANKIT offers financial services to clients through its retail channels, outlets, and banking specialists. It partnered with 15,000 neighborhood retail stores in tier 2 and tier 3 areas of India, which can offer assisted digital financial services like Domestic Money Transfer, Cash out through APES/ micro ATM, also it has its own Prepaid card apart from additional services in Recharges, Utility Bill payments, loan, Insurance, Travel Booking, etc.

    Who are the founders of BANKIT?

    BANKIT is the brainchild of Amit Nigam. Mr. Satyajeet Limaye, Chief Strategy Officer, works alongside Amit Nigam.

    What is the USP of BANKIT?

    The USP of BANKIT is its web-based interface and versatile application which is easy to use and user-friendly for the end customers. Its portal and app are much more secure, authentic, and easy to use, if a customer is registered (prior done any exchange with BANKIT) his cash can be sent with 2-3 ticks just right away.

    How much is BANKIT’s revenue?

    BANKIT’s estimated annual revenue is currently $15.1 million per year.

    How BANKIT works?

    BANKIT offers financial services to clients through its retail channels, outlets, and banking specialists. Monetary Services are effectively accessible at neighborhood shops. Individuals can visit the closest specialists for administrations with no reports. BANKIT is a stage that has various Banking, Financial, and Payment administrations under one rooftop.

    Is BANKIT safe?

    BANKIT provides the fastest and easiest money transfer to around 400 banks, based on IMPS technology. It provides safe and instant domestic money remittance. Its portal and app are much more secure, authentic, and easy to use.

    Who are the competitors of BANKIT?

    Some of the competitors of BANKIT are PayNearby, Fino Payment banks & Spice Money.

  • SketchBubble Success Story – One of the Leading Presentation Design Firms

    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 SketchBubble.

    SketchBubble is one of the leading presentation design firms that specialize in pre-prepared, professionally designed, and completely editable PowerPoint, Google Slides, and Apple Keynote templates. The startup prides itself on its expertise in professional presentation creation & design and on its longstanding commitment to fostering creative innovation, generating high-quality products, and maintaining uniqueness.

    In this article, learn more about SketchBubble’s business and revenue model, startup story, founders, and more.

    SketchBubble – Company Highlights

    Startup Name SketchBubble
    Headquarters Jaipur, Rajasthan, India
    Industry Design Services
    Founders Ashish Arora, Rohit Khariwal, Pankaj Narang
    Founded 2014
    Parent Company InfoShore
    Website sketchbubble.com

    SketchBubble – About
    SketchBubble – Industry Details
    SketchBubble – Startup Story
    SketchBubble – Founders and Team
    SketchBubble – Name and Logo
    SketchBubble – Business and Revenue Model
    SketchBubble – Tools Used to Run the Startup
    SketchBubble – Launch & Marketing Strategies
    SketchBubble – Challenges Faced
    SketchBubble – Competitors
    SketchBubble – Future Plans

    SketchBubble – About

    We all know how important presentations are for Professionals from all domains. After spending hours on the presentation design, still, the outcome is not that appealing to many professionals. (Even the founders of SketchBubble faced the same issue when they were creating an investor presentation for one of their earlier businesses).

    Using SketchBubble’s pre-designed presentation templates, professionals can easily create compelling presentations in minutes. It has one of the largest libraries of presentation templates for all possible categories. All its templates are entirely customizable, very easy to edit, and available in 2 colour themes. SketchBubble recently started animated PowerPoint templates as well.

    The platform provides pre-designed instantly downloadable presentation templates which are compatible with Microsoft PowerPoint, Apple Keynote, and Google Slides. Professionals find it very cumbersome to design engaging presentations (whether it is for educational purposes or pitching an investor or explaining a concept to staff). All of its templates are 100% customizable and users can easily edit without any designing knowledge. It’s like downloading, editing, plug, and play. SketchBubble’s visually appealing and easy-to-use templates save a lot of time for its users. They can focus on the delivery of the presentations and leave the design part to the platform.

    SketchBubble – Industry Details

    SketchBubble’s target audience is every professional either a project manager, business executive, startup founder, educator or someone working in a position where there is a need to explain/present some core concepts, financial data, an investor pitch, a company’s values, educational concepts, an onboarding or business plan, etc.

    Presentations have always played an important role in business, but in the next few years, Mr. Ashish Arora (Co-founder, SketchBubble) sees a great scope in the field of educational presentations, as well as online, which has come to the forefront during this COVID-19 crisis. Presentations can make online learning engaging and fun with the help of creative visuals.

    SketchBubble – Startup Story

    “This idea of starting a presentation templates marketplace ignited in our minds when we were designing a presentation to pitch potential investors for one of our products (mobile monitoring software). Since we were good at technology but not at designing, they were not satisfied with their own PowerPoint presentation. Ultimately, they spent $500 to hire a professional designer. Thus, this led to the creation of their startup that began with 50 PowerPoint templates in 2014; and now has over 10,000 templates with 150000+ slides!” – says Ashish Arora (Co-founder, SketchBubble).

    SketchBubble – Mission and Vision

    SketchBubble’s Vision – Saving the valuable time and effort of presenters by providing them with professionally-designed, innovative, and pre-made presentations in line with the knowledge level, interests, and experiences of the audience.

    SketchBubble’s Mission – To embrace the power of words and engaging visuals in all the products to help all professionals deliver impactful presentations and make a lasting impression, keeping pace with the latest visual communication and design trends.

    SketchBubble – Founders and Team

    SketchBubble - Founders and Team
    SketchBubble – Founders and Team

    Though SketchBubble was launched in 2014, its parent company InfoShore is providing IT services since 2008.

    InfoShore and SketchBubble are co-founded by Ashish Arora (Head of Product & Design), Rohit Khariwal (Head of Technology), and Pankaj Narang (Head of Social Media Marketing). They all completed their graduation from NIT Jaipur in the year 2005.

    SketchBubble Logo
    SketchBubble Logo

    When the idea of starting a business of professionally designed presentation templates was conceptualized, the founders wanted to connect the domain name with graphics (not just slides and presentations so that in the future, they can add more types of templates like MS Word, MS Excel, Website templates, etc.). Thus, the journey of SketchBubble started.

    SketchBubble – Business and Revenue Model

    SketchBubble has a subscription billing model. Customers can choose Monthly, Quarterly, or Yearly plans which can be cancelled at any time. It also offers 1 Day access plan to users who want to give it a try with a smaller amount. SketchBubble’s 1 Day access plan costs $14.95 and other plans start from $49.95.

    SketchBubble – Tools Used to Run the Startup

    • Mailchimp – Email Marketing
    • Razorpay Payroll – Employee Self-Service and Payroll
    • Hubstaff – for Time Tracking
    • Zendesk – Customer Support

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    SketchBubble – Launch & Marketing Strategies

    When the product was developed, the platform received social media and startup story coverage on some popular platforms. From the very first day, the team at SketchBubble worked on Content Marketing, which eventually resulted in a good Google ranking.

    “So getting initial customers was not that hard for us; we focused on quality so that we get repeat customers and by the time that paid off well” – Ashish added.

    Unlike its competitors, SketchBubble not only worked on the quality of its products, but it kept launching a lot of new templates each week. The team worked on multiple colour themes, and a variety of designs, and provided the same template not only for Microsoft PowerPoint but also for other popular platforms like Google Slides and Apple Keynote.

    SketchBubble’s founders always believe in a customer-centric approach. They give priority to customer requirements. Even if they provide pre-designed templates and do not officially provide customized presentations, whenever a customer requires custom slides, the team is always there to help them and provide their required presentations within 48 hours. As compelling presentation designs are the core of its business, the team keeps improving the designs on a regular basis so as to match the market trends.

    When SketchBubble started Email Marketing – 1 Free Slide every week to its free product subscribers. This resulted in many converts within 3-4 months as users started to see the value of the products offered.

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    SketchBubble – Challenges Faced

    Like every other online business that is dependent on traffic from Google, SketchBubble had its own ups and downs in Google ranking, which resulted in lower traffic a few times in the last couple of years. The team conquered every time they were affected by Google updates. The startup is constantly working on its content and design quality in order to have a lifetime of customers. Apart from this, finding the right talent is a challenge every organisation faces.

    SketchBubble – Competitors

    PresentationLoad and PoweredTemplate are the top competitors of SketchBubble.

    SketchBubble – Future Plans

    Currently, SketchBubble is working on making all its presentations animated so that customers will have the choice of opting for Static or Animated presentations. Apart from that, it is also working on MS Word and Excel Templates which should be live in a few months.

    FAQs

    What is SketchBubble?

    SketchBubble provides pre-designed instantly downloadable presentation templates which are compatible with Microsoft PowerPoint, Apple Keynote, and Google Slides.

    Who founded SketchBubble?

    Ashish Arora, Rohit Khariwal, and Pankaj Narang are the founders of SketchBubble.

    Is SketchBubble free?

    SketchBubble offers a few free templates to test the quality of its offerings. The platform charges subscription fees based on monthly, quarterly and yearly plans. Its plans start from $49.95 per month.

  • How to Record VoIP Calls Effectively?

    As per the report published by Persistence market research, the global VoIP market is estimated to achieve the mark of $194.5 billion in revenue by the end of 2024. Almost every small business to the big giant company is using VoIP for communication and at the same time using VoIP call recording to ensure accountability.

    Since VoIP is an advanced technology that comes with amazing features at a low price compared to traditional ones, the recording of calls is also different. Some VoIP service providers offer a call recording feature in their plans, but some offer this feature as an add-on at additional costs.

    Here in this article, you will get to know the procedure to record a VoIP call.

    What Is VoIP?
    Why Do Companies Need to Record VoIP Calls?
    Steps to Record VoIP Calls

    What Is VoIP?

    Voice Over Internet Protocol (VoIP) is a technology that enables seamless transmission of audio and video conversation over the internet. Using this technology one can easily avail the benefit of communicating with people using the internet connection. The audio or video data is converted into digital data in small data packets, then it is transmitted to the destination using the Internet network. The receiver receives this data packet combined to listen to the conversation.

    It provides the ability to make business calls from any location from any device through an internet connection. Unlike the traditional phone system, it saves a lot of money on normal calls and also on Long distance International calls.

    Not only voice calls but other mediums like video, chats, sending or receiving images, videos, and documents everything is possible because of VoIP technology. There is no boundation to stick with only one tool for communications but one can easily switch to their smartphone and make or receive a business call on it.

    Why Do Companies Need to Record VoIP Calls?

    VoIP is widely used by today’s businesses because of its flexibility and low-cost infrastructure. But while running business communication on VoIP, companies strongly need to record their every call. There are certain reasons companies do record the calls and some of the most prominent reasons are the following.

    • To prevent the business from future misunderstandings with clients. Sometimes when clients refuse their words, your call recording works as strong evidence.
    • Businesses also use call recordings for quality assurance. As a business owner, you always want your customers to be happy with your service. So it helps to ensure, no of your employees misbehaves with your customer.
    • Call recordings are also used by the companies for the training of the recruit. You might have heard the voice ” your call may be recorded for quality and training purposes” while communicating with any company.
    • It helps to reduce the legal risk if you have proof of any verbal commitment as a recording.
    • While working on a project for a client, sometimes you might require clarification from the previous conversation, and automatic call recording acts as a miracle at that time.
    Mobile VoIP Market size by Region

    Steps to Record VoIP Calls

    Coming back to the topic, below is the step-by-step process to help you to record VoIP calls. Since you can choose different software for your VoIP call recording but more or less the procedure is the same.

    Step 1: Choose the Right Software

    Choosing the right software to record calls is the first and most prominent step in our list. There could be many VoIP service providers available that are offering VoIP call recording features. Some include it in their plan while some offer it as an add-on. Here is a list of a few software providers who provide the call-recording feature.

    • RingCentral
    • 8×8
    • Nextiva
    • Vonage

    Choose any of the providers which suit your needs the best.

    Step 2: Configuration of Basic Settings

    Once you are done selecting the provider, the next step is configuring the basic call recording setting. To provide you with the context of how to use the call recording feature, we have taken the example of Nextiva.‌ Let us discuss how to record a call on Nextiva.

    Homepage

    ‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌Once you are on the homepage dashboard of the software, you need to click on the manage option under the user’s tab.‌

    User Overview Page

    ‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌After clicking on the user’s tab you’ll enter the user’s dashboard. Here you’ll see all your users and various options to configure. Just select the desired user for whom you want to record the call.‌‌


    Click here to get Nextiva

    User Manager Page

    ‌‌‌‌Once you click on any user, you’ll find the monitoring section, under this section there is an option for call recording. Just enable this call recording option for the user.

    You’ll find this option in different places based on your service provider.

    Step 3: Configure Call Recording Policies

    After completing all of the above steps, you need to choose your desired call recording policy from the dropdown menu. Below I’ve explained these policies in brief.

    Call Recording Options

    Always On

    When this option is selected, every call for that user will automatically start recording. The user will have no control over the recordings to start, stop, pause or resume. You can select this option if you want to record all the calls without giving control to the user.

    Always on With Pause and Resume

    This option also records all the calls automatically as soon as the calls start, but this option empowers the user to pause and resume the call recording whenever he/she wants. You can select this option if you want to give some control to the user.

    Users can pause the call recording by dialling *48 and resume the paused call recording by dialling *49.

    On-demand

    As the name suggests On-demand, which means VoIP call recording will start as soon as the user initiates the call but it will automatically get deleted if the user does not place the call on hold and dial *44.

    It means if the user wants to save this call recording, then he/she needs to put the call on hold and has to dial the feature code *44. This option will give much more flexibility to users.

    On-Demand With User-Initiated Call

    When this option is enabled, calls will not start recording automatically. In order to start the call recording, the user has to put the call on hold and dial *44. Another alternative is also available, user can dial this code before making the outbound Call to record the call.

    Never

    This option doesn’t allow the user to record any of the calls. Even the user can’t record any call using any of the feature codes like*44.

    Step 4: Good to Go

    After selecting your recording policy for the user, you can select the other option which is easy to configure. Like if you want to make the announcement that the call recording is being started or stopped, then you can check the option. Similarly, you can easily configure other basic settings.‌‌

    Now you are good to go to record all your business calls. Keep in mind that I’ve taken the example of Nextiva but you can choose any provider, settings and features might be up or down but the functionality is the same.

    Conclusion

    Call recording is a widely used feature in the business. empower your business by leveraging the feature of call recording. Call recording, even today, is quite challenging if you don’t have the right tools. Follow our step-by-step guide to record your VoIP calls and run your business with full accountability. It helps individuals and companies maintain accountability for verbal commitments. Automatic call recording using your VoIP phone system helps you run a more successful business.

    FAQ

    Can VoIP phone calls be recorded?

    VoIP calls can be recorded via streaming audio recording applications. Streaming audio recorders can be useful for home-based recording.

    How do I record a VoIP call on Windows 10?

    The keyboard shortcut Windows+Alt+R allows you to record VoIP calls on your PC quickly.

    What is the best free app for recording phone calls?

    The List of some of the best software is

    • RingCentral
    • 8×8
    • Nextiva
    • Vonage

    Can we automatically record all calls?

    Some VoIP call recording software allows you to manually select which phone conversations you want to record, while others support automatic audio recordings of all phone calls.

  • 10 Best Prototyping Tools For UI/UX Designers in 2023

    “Design used to be the seasoning you’d sprinkle on for taste; now it’s the flour you need at the start of the recipe”, said John Maeda. And we cannot agree more as we see the impact UX and UI designers make on the world we live in.

    As design enthusiasts, we are very proud of your work which is why we understand the importance of creating quality prototypes as a part of the UX development process.

    Prototyping is an important stage in the UI/UX design process. It allows designers to create a mock-up of their design ideas and test them out with users before investing time and resources into building a final product. Prototyping is simply the creation of a simulation or a sample version of the final product. It helps designers to put ideas into place and validate them. The clients get a visual overview of the final product, and how it will look and feel. It helps in building a good understanding of what is required by the client, exploring options, and discussing barriers when seeing it visually. Now, a prototyping tool offers a platform for you to experiment, and apply your creative ideas, minimizing the risk and saving on efforts. As the faster you fail, the faster you learn with your mockup. You can iterate and improve the design by collaborating with the stakeholders using a prototype.

    How to choose the right prototyping tool?

    UX Prototyping Tools: How to Pick the Right One

    The right tool for prototyping is very important to put your creativity into a visual presentation. With a plethora of prototyping tools available in the market, it is very important to find the one that gives you the highest flexibility, features, and creative freedom. Since every prototyping tool is different and has its pros and cons, these points will help you choose the right fit for your prototyping needs.

    • Ease of Use: The easier an app is for using, the more time and effort it saves. Instead of making a task more difficult, a smart prototyping tool will streamline the procedures needed to do it. It should not feel burdensome to use a tool that is meant to ease your effort.
    • Ease of learning: How suitable is a prototyping tool for your team if it takes a long time to understand it? Compare the time and effort spent on learning a tool because the learning curve should not exceed the usage of the tool. You can also opt for tools offering familiar interfaces. For example, Adobe XD will have a familiar UI if you have used Photoshop or Illustrator. The best way to detect this is by taking trials of the tools you are considering.
    • Fidelity level: The tool we choose should be based on the fidelity we are aiming for. When you need to quickly present your concept to your clients, low-fidelity prototypes are helpful and when you need a detailed prototype, including animation, interactions, transitions, etc high fidelity is critical. Framer, Origami Studio, Axure are good options in case of high fidelity. For low fidelity, you can try Figma and Sketch.
    • Ease of sharing: A prototyping tool is meant to encourage a cooperative working environment for all parties involved. Reviewing, providing suggestions, and making modifications, should enable syncing multiple people with one another. For example, prefer a tool that consolidates client feedback like InVision which has the option for commenting on a particular feature (similar to the comment feature in Google Docs)
    • Usage: Always make sure the tool works with the other tools you use and fits your design process. For instance, the best tool for you would be one that allows collaborating with the team via video call directly from the platform or integrates with another prototyping app or allows easy export of files. However, there is no one tool that will offer you everything that you need which is why it must allow integration with other apps and tools.
    • Cost: Although it is easy to be charmed with features, consider the cost of the apps. A prototyping tool will be utilized for a longer period of time and by several users, which could be costly for you in the longer run. It will also cost you the effort to learn and bring another prototyping tool into your team’s design process.

    There are many different prototyping tools available that cater to the needs of UI/UX designers, each with its own unique features and capabilities. In this blog, we will introduce some of the most popular prototyping tools and discuss their strengths and weaknesses, and suitability for different design needs.

    Best Prototyping Tools in 2023

    InVision
    Figma
    AdobeXD
    Sketch
    UXPin
    Framer
    Proto.io
    Axure
    Origami Studio
    Fluid UI

    InVision

    Rating 4.6/5
    Best for Powerful Animation Features
    Used By Uber, Salesforce, Linkedin, Twitter
    Promotion Free Trial and Free Version
    Deployment Cloud, SaaS, Web-Based, Mobile (iPad, iPhone, Android)

    InVision – Popular Prototyping Tool

    InVision is one of the most popular prototyping tools which quickly transforms your designs into clickable prototypes by applying hotspots to wireframes. It offers several well-designed tools, many features like repeatable components that can be changed in the entire site, very handy vector drawing tools, and animation and dynamic visual effect tools. Its project management page makes it simple to put the design elements into a status workflow. You can add features like a to-do column, in progress, review, etc. It establishes a centralized information source for all project participants and stakeholders.

    Strengths

    • It has a straightforward interface that does not require any technical background to understand and work on the tool. You can just click and drag to link static screens and outside URLs.
    • It makes collaborating and sharing very easy. One can leave comments on specific design elements of the web app in the prototype.
    • It works very well with other design software meaning you can start in one app and then transfer your design to InVision.

    Weaknesses

    • While it has many useful features and an easy interface, the app can sometimes lag. Plugins with other connected pages and software can slow it down.
    • It has a limited and basic animation library which means you won’t be able to create an advanced prototype.

    Pricing Plans of InVision

    Freehand (Free) $0 upto 3 freehands
    Freehand (Pro) $4 per active user/month billed annually* or $4.95 billed monthly
    Freehand (Enterprise) Custom Plans

    Figma

    Rating 4.7/5
    Best for Planning and Prototyping
    Used By Zoom, AirBnB, BMW
    Promotion Free Version
    Deployment Cloud, SaaS, Web-Based, Desktop (Mac, Windows), Mobile (iPad, iPhone, Android)

    Figma – Prototype Design Platform

    Figma is a cloud-based and on-premise platform that enables businesses to create unique designs, as well as share them with their team. It is an all-in-one tool that makes accessibility and collaboration easy for you. It handles everything – prototyping, wireframing, UI design, collaboration, and handoff. It allows you to turn static design files into interactive prototypes with zero coding requirements. Its intuitive builder allows you to connect various UI elements, and choose your animations and interactions. You can control the appearance of grids, texts, and other elements and view your prototype on your mobile app with Figma.

    Strengths

    • It allows toggling between design and prototype seamlessly. You can make changes in the design mode and those reflect automatically in the prototype.
    • It allows remote designers to collaborate in real time, inspect the design and make changes. In short, it is exceptional for teams working remotely.

    Weaknesses

    • When working with large files, it can sometimes slow down.
    • It does not come with an offline mode and needs active internet for using the tool.

    Pricing Plans of Figma

    Starter Free for 3 Figma and 3 FigJam files
    Figma Professional $12 per editor/month billed annually or $15 month-to-month
    Figma Organization $45 per editor/month (Annual billing only)

    AdobeXD

    Rating 4.5/5
    Best for Creating Realistic Prototypes
    Used By Fujitsu, RedHat
    Promotion Free Trial and Free Version
    Deployment Cloud, SaaS, Web-Based, Desktop (Mac, Windows)

    AdobeXD – Best Prototyping Tool 

    Adobe XD is designed for modern UX/UI designers, enabling them to do their work with precise accuracy and effortless ease. It is a powerful prototyping tool that is a household name because of its applications like Photoshop, Lightroom, etc. This tool offers you a vector-based system for creating prototypes and dynamic functionalities like interactions, transitions, etc. Because of the vector-based system, it is easy to scale and resize with AdobeXD without any issues.

    It is considered a full stack prototyping tool that lets you design your prototype from scratch, link pages together to create a clickable prototype and easy sharing options.

    Adobe XD Design and Prototype Tutorial

    Strengths

    • It is a brilliant choice for both, low and high-fidelity prototypes.
    • It helps in fast prototype development. It is one of the best tools for making simple demonstration prototypes quickly.
    • It is easy to link and works well with Adobe software, which is very obvious.

    Weaknesses

    • It is a little tricky to understand its UI even if you have been using other Adobe products. It will take some time for you to learn everything you can do with the tool. This is also because new features are added very frequently (which is a positive side as well).
    • Limitations on how many people can collaborate and difficult handoff because it does not have a design-to-code export.

    Pricing Plans of AdobeXD

    Adobe XD $9.99/month
    Creative Cloud All Apps 100GB $54.99/month

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    Sketch

    Rating 4.6/5
    Best for Prototyping Tool with Vector Editing and Reusable Elements
    Used By JP Morgan, American Express, Alibaba Travels
    Promotion Free Trial
    Deployment Cloud, SaaS, Web-Based, Desktop (Mac)

    Sketch – Prototyping Tool

    Sketch is an all-in-one design and prototyping platform that allows designers to create artwork and collaborate with developers for product development. It is one of the oldest UX design platforms and offers support in creating vector-based designs that are clickable. It allows you to create a static design in the canvas using its flexible editing tools and then create a prototype to view the designs. Because it is also vector based it is scalable. It enables the quick creation of low-fidelity prototypes. It also allows copy-pasting reusable elements. It is used by more than one million designers, from individual freelancers to large companies, to create amazing products on a daily basis.

    Strengths

    • Sketch has a complete ecosystem of templates, kits, integrations, and plugins which makes prototyping easy. It also has enough native functionality for performing simple prototype animations.
    • It is very fast if you just want to make initial designs or simple prototypes.

    Weaknesses

    • It is only available for Apple users.
    • It doesn’t offer robust functionality which is why a lot of designers prefer to start with Sketch but finish prototyping with some other tool.

    Pricing Plans of Sketch

    Standard $9 per Editor, monthly Or $99 per Editor, yearly
    Business $20 per Editor, monthly (paid by annual subscription)

    UXPin

    Rating 4.2/5
    Best for Building Prototypes that Feel Like the End Product
    Used By Lenovo, Autozone, University of California
    Promotion Free Trial and Free Version
    Deployment Cloud, SaaS, Web-Based, Desktop (Mac, Windows), Mobile (Android, iPhone, iPad)

    UXPin – Prototype Design Tool

    UXPin is the perfect tool for creating interactive prototypes, designing systems, and documenting them. It allows you to create mockups, prototypes, and UX documents and facilitate collaboration. UXPin does not require a long learning process to begin designing. The intuitive and modern editor of this app allows users to quickly design an ideal experience, from beginning to end, without ever needing to leave.

    Being a full-stack UX platform, it supports end-to-end design processes and helps in creating high-fidelity prototypes bridging the gap between design and development. For example, its new technology Merge allows you to create a fully interactive prototype with production-ready code components. It also offers you to add elaborated animations and conditional interactions adding logic to the design.

    Strengths

    • It has built-in interactivity which means you don’t need to link static artboards to interactions. It makes it seem like you are interacting with a real product.
    • It simplifies the handoff process. Developers can take code from UXpin and use it in their development.

    Weaknesses

    • Sometimes the tool might seem a little overwhelming because of too many features.
    • High price with a short trial period.

    Pricing Plans of UXPin

    Advanced $39 per editor/month, billed monthly or $29 per editor/month billed yearly
    Professional $83 per editor/month, billed monthly or $69 per editor/month billed yearly
    Company $149 per editor/month, billed monthly or $119 per editor/month billed yearly
    Enterprise Merge Custom Plans

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    Framer

    Rating 4.6/5
    Best for Rich Interactive Prototyping
    Used By Facebook, Twitter, DropBox, Groupon
    Promotion Free Version
    Deployment Cloud, SaaS, Web-Based

    Framer – Mobile-Based Prototyping Tool

    Framer is a powerful tool used by mobile designers to design layouts, add components, and create interactive prototypes. Framer allows you to build realistic animations from the ground up, or you can take advantage of the available resources in the community to find elements that suit your prototype. This solution facilitates the editing of your HTML and CSS, allowing for optimal customization of your UI and UX.

    Framer offers smooth team collaboration and high-fidelity interactive prototypes. You can create completely functional prototypes by using the pre-made components and building animations and transitions. It has rich tools and features like adaptive layouts, and fully customizable interactive components that help in building rich layouts. You also get access to thousands of resources in the Framer X store where you find live maps, media players, UI kits, etc.

    Strengths

    • The work done on Framer can be used by developers for developing the final product as it gets exported as React code.
    • Even though it offers code to be used by developers, it does not requires coding knowledge for anyone to use Framer.

    Weaknesses

    • It is relatively very new which makes it difficult to completely judge it and trust it.
    • It is known to be difficult to learn ( their redesign is intended to fix this problem, though).

    Pricing Plans of Framer

    Free ₹0 per month per site
    Mini ₹290 per month per site (Yearly)
    Basic ₹520 per month per site (Yearly)
    Pro ₹920 per month per site (Yearly)

    Proto.io

    Rating 4.4/5
    Best for Prototyping Tool With a Huge Asset Library
    Used By Amazon, Paypal, Ideo, and Showtime
    Promotion Free Trial and Free Version
    Deployment Cloud, SaaS, Web-Based, Mobile (Android, iPhone, iPad)

    Proto.io – Industry-Leading Prototyping Platform

    Proto.io is an excellent browser-based prototyping tool used by many professionals. Designers, entrepreneurs, and developers can make interactive and accurate prototypes of websites or apps by using this powerful tool.

    Proto.io has a very intuitive drag-and-drop interface. It has hundreds of ready-made components and templates, which lets you quickly create low-fidelity prototypes. You get an extensive UI library for basic UI elements, can polish your prototype using the 6000+ ready-to-use digital assets and animations and offers seamless audio-video integrations.

    UI Design Prototype with Proto.io

    Strengths

    • You can convert your low-fidelity prototype into high-fidelity realistic prototypes.
    • It allows you to import existing wireframes from AdobeXD, Figma, Photoshop, and Sketch.
    • It allows easy sharing with anyone by copy-pasting links.

    Weaknesses

    • It has a bit of a learning curve because of its rich features.
    • Performance gets a little slow sometimes and it becomes harder to drag and drop assets.

    Pricing Plans of Proto.io

    Freelancer $29 Per month, paid monthly or $24 Per month, paid annually
    Startup ₹49 Per month, paid monthly or $40 Per month, paid annually
    Agency ₹99 Per month, paid monthly or $80 Per month, paid annually
    Corporate ₹199 Per month, paid monthly or $160 Per month, paid annually

    Axure

    Rating 4.4/5
    Best for Drag and Drop Prototyping Tool
    Used By Amazon, Salesforce, BBC, Mircrosoft, Target
    Promotion Free Trial and Free Version
    Deployment Cloud, SaaS, Web-Based, Desktop (Windows, Mac), On-Premise (Windows, Linux), Mobile (Android, iPhone, iPad)

    Axure – Design Tool for Creating Prototypes

    Axure is an all-in-one design tool that can be used to create prototypes, specifications, and diagrams. It is a very intuitive platform and does not require you to know to code. It offers dynamic content for hover functions and unlimited combinations of event triggers and actions for exploring digital experience in the prototype. It enables you to create diagrams, wireframes, customer journeys, and other UX documentation right next to your prototype. You can keep track of notes easily and keep other assets organized and accessible.

    Strengths

    • It offers easy sharing with the team and client. It also offers co-editing capabilities.
    • It is very fast and allows quick development of wireframes for showing clients.
    • Adaptive views enable the creation of responsive designs even with complex ideas.

    Weaknesses

    • Quite difficult to learn because of come complicated features like repeater tables.
    • A little expensive if you need this for a large team.

    Pricing Plans of Axure

    Axure RP Pro $ 25 per month per user billed annually or $29 month-to-month
    Axure RP Team $ 42 per month per user billed annually or $49 month-to-month
    Axure RP Enterprise Custom Plans

    Origami Studio

    Rating 4.8/5
    Best for All-in-one design, animation, and prototyping
    Used By Facebook, Scale, Teknologi.id
    Promotion Completely Free
    Deployment Desktop (Mac), Mobile (iPhone, iPad)

    Origami Studio

    Origami Studio is an absolutely Free design tool created by Facebook for designers who need advanced systems. Using it, designers can quickly create and share interactive designs. Origami Studio can be used to quickly prototype your design concepts, allowing you to gather user opinions before investing in a full-blown code version. The Patch editor feature of Origami Studio allows you to build logic, animations, interactions, and behaviors quickly. It also has a huge library with several pre-built options. You can quickly export prototype parts for designers to copy and paste code into the project. Origami Live is another powerful feature that enables easy and faster sharing for reviewing.

    Strengths

    • It is compatible with Figma and Sketch which enables the creation of high-fidelity prototypes.
    • Using Origami Live, you can view mockups in real-time on your mobile.

    Weaknesses

    • It has a bit of a learning curve.
    • It lacks collaboration features like commenting and viewing version histories.

    Pricing Plans of Origami Studio

    It is completely FREE.

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    Fluid UI

    Rating 4.2/5
    Best for Rapid Prototyping
    Used By eBay, Dell, Linkedin, Google, Salesforce Oracle
    Promotion Free Trial and Free Version
    Deployment Cloud, SaaS, Web-Based, Desktop (Mac, Windows), Mobile (Android, iPhone, iPad)

    Fluid UI is a great tool for designing prototypes, wireframes, and mockups with the help of real-time collaboration. This tool has one of the simplest and easy to use interfaces for rapid prototyping. It allows the creation of prototypes within minutes with over 2000 ready-to-use components with libraries for wireframing, material design, easy animations, and real-time collaboration. You can also upload your existing assets. You can also add mouse and touch gestures, and unique animations. When it comes to collaborating, it gives you features like video presentations, live video calling, built-in commenting, etc.

    Learn how to prototype interactive apps using FluidUI

    Strengths

    • Comprehensive pre-built drag and use UI kits.
    • You can test your prototype anywhere on a tablet, or mobile with the free player app.
    • You will not have to worry about choosing a target monitor resolution.

    Weaknesses

    • Difficult positioning. You might end up moving an object you did not want to.
    • Comes with a learning curve as a lot of features are not intuitive.

    Pricing Plans of Fluid UI

    Solo $8.25/month or $99/year
    Pro $19.08/month or $229/year
    Team $41.58/month or $499/year

    Conclusion

    Prototyping tools are essential for UI/UX designers to create and test their designs before they are built. They allow designers to quickly and easily create interactive prototypes that simulate the final product, allowing for better communication with clients and stakeholders and more efficient iteration of design ideas.

    While the above-listed prototyping tools are amazing and will help you create working prototypes for your projects, there is one that will suit your needs better than the rest. Choosing a prototyping tool will highly depend on the goals you are trying to achieve, the team you are working with, and their skills as well as the type of project they are working on. For example, if you are comfortable working with codes Axure is a good choice. When you need regular handoffs, Framer and UXpin are better options. For a polished prototype go for Origami and if you spend a lot of time in wireframes, Figma, AdobeXD, and Sketch are the ones for you. Regardless of the tool chosen, however, prototyping is an invaluable tool for improving the design process and creating more effective and user-friendly products.

    FAQs

    What is a prototyping tool?

    A prototyping tool is a software application that allows UI/UX designers to create interactive prototypes of their designs. These prototypes can be used to test and demonstrate design concepts, gather feedback, and communicate ideas to clients and stakeholders.

    What are some top prototyping tools to use in 2023?

    Some of the top prototyping tools to use in 2023 include InVision, Figma, Adobe XD, Sketch, and UXPin.

    Which is the easiest prototyping tool?

    Framer is considered to be the easiest prototyping tool.

    How do prototyping tools benefit UI/UX designers?

    Prototyping tools allow designers to quickly and easily create interactive prototypes of their designs, which can save time and resources during the design process. Prototypes also enable designers to test and gather feedback on their designs before they are built, which can help identify and fix problems early on.

    Is it necessary for a UI/UX designer to use a prototyping tool?

    While it is not strictly necessary for a designer to use a prototyping tool, it can be extremely beneficial in the design process. Prototyping tools allow designers to create realistic and interactive simulations of their designs, which can be very helpful for testing, demonstrating, and gathering feedback on their work.

    Can prototyping tools be used for design projects of any size?

    Yes, prototyping tools can be used for design projects of any size. From small websites to large-scale applications, prototyping tools can help designers create and test their designs efficiently.

    Which is the most basic type of prototype?

    The most basic type of prototype is a low-fidelity prototype, also known as a “lo-fi” prototype. Low-fidelity prototypes are typically rough, simplified versions of a design that are used to test and demonstrate basic concepts.

    Where are prototypes used?

    Prototypes are used in the design and development process to test and demonstrate design concepts. They can be used in a variety of settings, including in-house by designers and developers, with clients and stakeholders, and with end users.

  • Story of uEngage: Technology Solutions for New Age Restaurants

    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 uEngage.

    uEngage provides subscription based-technology solutions to the local businesses for better market services. It is on a mission to help restaurants save aggregator commission and build their long term digital data growth. Started in 2018, uEngage has clocked over 700+ crore worth orders through its client apps.

    StartupTalky interviewed Mr. Sameer Sharma (Founder, uEngage) to get insights into the startup story and roadmap of the organization. Read ahead to know more!

    uEngage – Company Highlights

    Startup Name uEngage
    Founders Sameer Sharma, Sunil Rawal
    Founded 2018
    Headquarters Panchkula, Haryana
    Industry Foodtech
    Website uengage.in

    uEngage – About and Vision
    uEngage – How it Started
    uEngage – Founders and Team
    uEngage – Products/Services
    uEngage – Challenges Faced
    uEngage – Marketing Strategies
    uEngage – Growth and Stats
    uEngage – Future Plans
    uEngage – FAQs

    uEngage

    uEngage – About and Vision

    uEngage offers digital and technology solutions for food ordering apps, cloud kitchen, contactless ordering, CRM services, grocery delivery, and many more.

    uEngage’s uniqueness lies in its balanced combination of its innovative products and digital growth consultant. It can be broken into 3 core pillars –

    • Online ordering solutions
    • User acquisition and demand generation
    • Rider tracking platform + Third party riders integration

    uEngage Services is founded with the vision to provide subscription based-technology solutions to the local businesses for better market services. They are a team of young aspirants who believe in providing business and technology solutions to the local business houses. Within the next two years (2023), uEngage’s mission is to be one of the best solution provider platforms for all the merchandisers and create maximum job opportunities for qualified youngsters.

    uEngage – How it Started

    The founders come from middle-class families, a town where most of the youngsters have to leave their hometown to look for good job opportunities. They wanted to break this chain and thus thought of creating opportunities where prospective people don’t have to leave their hometown. Coming from a technology & business background, Sameer & Sunil started their first venture Trideal in 2012.

    “The journey wasn’t easy as the investors in Tier-2 cities lack confidence in startup’s but with our hard work, we were able to get the support of the talented people that made it a success. With certain ups and lows, Trideal was acquired by Paytm and after some gap, I started uEngage and ShoutLo in 2018. To date, we have been quite successful in achieving our mission” -says Sameer Sharma, Founder, uEngage & Shoutlo.

    The founders noticed that the local food joints pay huge commissions to companies like Swiggy, Zomato for the delivery services. So they thought of solving that problem by providing them with a direct delivery option. At uEngage, the team provides subscription-based technological solutions to the local business houses.

    uEngage – Founders and Team

    • Sameer Sharma – Founder at uEngage & Shoutlo
    • Sunil Rawal – Co-Founder, Business Head at uEngage & Shoutlo

    uEngage has a team of promising youngsters who have the zeal and determination to provide technological solutions to the local business and expand job opportunities for qualified professionals. In 2018, uEngage was established and run by Sameer Sharma and his Co-founder Sunil Rawal looks after the business strategies of the company.

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    uEngage – Products/Services

    uEngage offers digital and technology solutions for food ordering apps, cloud kitchen, contactless ordering, CRM services, grocery delivery, etc.,

    Uengage - Products & Services
    uEngage – Products & Services

    DISCOVERY

    1. Food Ordering App: uEngage allows you to enhance the online food ordering experience for your customers with your own food ordering app. There are no upfront costs/commission and a low-cost fixed rental model.

    2. Web Ordering: Have your customers place orders directly with your own food ordering website. There will be no commission charged for every order placed. The features include displaying a digital menu, accepting orders online, and showcasing multiple outlets on a single website.

    3. Cloud Kitchen App: Run your delivery-only restaurant online with uEngage’s Cloud Kitchen App. Manage all your home delivery, takeaway, and in-car dine-in orders seamlessly.

    4. Contactless Ordering Solution: Integrate a contactless ordering solution by eliminating physical touchpoints. The features include QR code ordering, a digital menu, and a digital mode of payment.

    MARKETING

    1. CRM for restaurants: uEngage offers a complete CRM solution helping your business to connect and engage with your customers in a smarter way and converting your audience into potential buyers. Enabled with features like – segment-based audience, personalized SMS campaign, customer feedback management, and smart reporting.  
    2. Digital Marketing: Includes SEO, SEM, PPC, Email marketing, Social Media, and content marketing.
    3. SMS Solutions (DLT): Stay Connected to your customers with DLT Approved Transactional, Promotional & OTP Bulk SMS Service.
    4. Mini App Store/3rd party integration: Launch your business in Paytm Mini App Store and PhonePe Switch to showcase your products/services and get access to the huge customer base of active users of Paytm & PhonePe.

    DELIVERY & LOGISTICS

    1. Rider tracking app: This app will let the rider make deliveries efficiently by letting him know the best routes based on current traffic status and all the delivery information on the app including the customer calling options and the address.
    2. Rider Management: Manage all your on-demand deliveries and logistics services with your own Rider App. Features include – Rider Allocation, real-time rider tracking, and 3rd party rider management.
    3. 3rd party logistics: Integrate with third-party logistics with Rapido and Dunzo to eliminate the need to invest in warehouse space, technology, transportation, and employees to carry out logistics processes.

    OTHER TOOLS

    1. In-store feedback app: Get to know what your customers think about your food, ambiance, service, staff, and more with customer reviews and ratings, all in real-time.
    2. Digital Check-in App:  Check-in guests at the door by entering their name or confirmation number on uEngage’s Digital Check-in App and reduce their waiting process.
    3. Grocery Delivery App: Take your grocery store online and offer a hassle-free grocery shopping experience to your customers with your own grocery delivery app.

    uEngage – Challenges Faced

    “Challenges make you stronger. If you are not getting challenges on your road to success, you aren’t growing. My first challenge came when my Trideal Co-founder left the startup after 6 months and I had to learn the business mechanism in addition to my tech background. Getting the right kind of people under my umbrella and convincing the investors to invest in startups especially in Tier-2 cities is a real challenge. Slowly and gradually with our sustained efforts, we not only attracted investors but also created job opportunities for qualified professionals” – Sameer added.

    uEngage – Growth and Stats

    uEngage has successfully provided technology solutions to many brands and helped them provide better services to the clients. The startup’s presence is in more than 127 cities and has clocked 700+ crore worth orders through its client.

    • 3500+ outlets onboarded
    • Provided Technology solution to Outlets in 127+ cities
    • One of the Prominent Pizza Chain has acquired 1.7 million users and is among top 7 apps on Play Store
    • uEngage has empowered essential delivery platform for Govt of Punjab while Covid Lockdown
    • uEngage does 5.2 lac+ Transactions on a monthly basis across its white-labeled apps/PWAs
    • uEngage has helped its partner restaurants to clock more than 700 Cr worth Sales in last 4+ years journey

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    uEngage – Future Plans

    In the years to come, uEngage wants restaurants to start direct online delivery services rather than spending money on commission base apps. The team is also inclined to make Uenage one of the biggest solution providers in the Northern region and create job opportunities for young aspirants.

    FAQs

    What is uEngage?

    uEngage provides subscription based-technology solutions to the local businesses for better market services. It offers digital and technology solutions for food ordering apps, cloud kitchen, contactless ordering, CRM services, grocery delivery, and many more.

    Who founded uEngage?

    Sameer Sharma and Sunil Rawal founded uEngage in 2018.

    Is uEngage an Indian company?

    Yes. uEngage is an Indian company headquartered in Panchkula, Haryana.

  • Aerovest Private Jet Charter Plans An initial Seed Fund Raised in Q1 2023

    Aerovest is a newly launched private jet charter company that will start operations in Q1 2023 initially as a broker with the intention of becoming a broker operator. With the use of innovative technology and planet-saving green air mobility, Aerovest will be uniquely positioned to disrupt the private air mobility industry in a period of record demand. The company is preparing for its initial fundraising to take place in the first half of 2023 of which the funds will be used to navigate the highly regulated aviation industry licensing process.

    Launching in Q1 2023 as a new-age broker in the market, Aerovest will very quickly transition up into a broker operator with multiple revenue streams. Plans to create the UK’s first on-demand app for private air mobility, Aerovest will be the first company in the UK to be able to fly from smaller private airfields, increasing arrival and departure locations significantly when compared with competitor operators.

    With a strategic phased approach for growth, the company is setting out to disrupt the UK, European and US private air mobility market in the coming years by offering cost-effective luxury travel primarily targeted towards Millennials and GenZers.

    With a private jet market forecasted to be worth US$126 billion by 2035, Aerovest expects to supercharge growth within this exceptional market.

    Why Choose Aerovest for Your Private Jet Charter?

    Private aircraft charters are becoming increasingly popular among high-earning professionals, celebrities, millennials and genZers who must get from point A to Point B with minimum effort, the most possible comfort and in the shortest possible time.

    The company plans to develop an omnichannel booking platform enabling travellers to book charter flights on demand and experience the instant customer service that is expected amongst the new generations.

    Paul Allen, Founder and CEO of the company has used his extensive experience in the technology sector and passion for aviation to lead the building of the Aerovest booking platform. The company has identified cost-efficient and planet-saving aircraft for the Aerovest fleet providing travellers with the luxury of a private jet whilst being highly competitively priced and generating up to 74% fewer carbon emissions.

    Enjoy Private Aircraft Rental Without The Hassle

    The Aerovest booking platform proposes to provide travellers with a simple solution that enables customers to book a private jet rental via a mobile or web app. The platform allows customers to choose aircraft capacity, dates and times from the company’s fleet of aircraft, as well as access to an entire network of private aircraft around the globe.

    Additionally, the site has impeccable customer support, ensuring that all of your needs are met and any questions or concerns regarding their private jet rental are addressed promptly.

    With Aerovest, you can experience the luxury and convenience of private aircraft rental without the hassle of traditional booking methods. It’s and elegant way to travel.

    Aerovest Provides Air Charter Services Worldwide

    The travel industry is changing, and it’s about time private jet charter operators changed with it! Aerovest is planning to expand into a global business initially targeting the UK and Europe, quickly followed by expansion plans to hit the North American market.

    Travellers utilising Aerovest’s services will be given access to an entire network of private aircraft around the globe. As passenger numbers increase, the demand for private air transportation services increases. With more and more airlines no longer flying into regional airports post-covid, a private jet charter is crucial from a consumer standpoint enabling travellers to get closer to their final destination without the hustle and bustle of crowded commercial airports.

    Aerovest has identified the world’s greatest single-engine performance aircraft for its future fleet, manufactured by Swiss company Pilatus, the aircraft will allow customers to access nearly triple the amount of private airports across the globe whilst eliminating up to 74% of carbon emissions when compared to other operators in the same category.

    Company’s Ecosystem

    Aerovest is supported by a business ecosystem that will help reduce the cost of private air transportation services to the end user.

    This ecosystem, in addition to its planned fleet of planes, includes aircraft operators and air taxi companies that provide aircraft for charter, as well as ground handling services, and luxury passenger check-in facilities at airports across the globe.

    The company is now encouraging people to register for updates about when the service and fundraiser go live in 2023.

    Don’t miss out on this exciting opportunity and learn more by registering your interest here on their website: https://aerovest.co.uk/investors/ or send a message to investors@aerovest.co.uk.

    Disclosure Statement: This document is Not a public solicitation nor a request for investments in the U.K. or the U.S.A. The document is being distributed as an infomercial only.

  • 12 Best Billing and Invoicing Software for Business in 2023

    An invoice is a commercial document that itemizes and records a transaction between a buyer and a seller. Now creating an invoice can be very time-consuming, as one has to write down one’s information and the client’s information, set the currency, indicate the date of the invoice, etc. One needs to make sure that the client’s bills are accurate and generated quickly which again takes a lot of time. So, the process is too lengthy, and now to reduce the work, comes the use of the best billing and invoicing software. If you are fed up with manual invoicing or want to automate the accounting of your business. Then, below we’ve listed the best software for billing and invoice to choose from.

    Every year the number of small businesses and freelancers is increasing and with this increasing number of businesses, the need for invoicing software has also raised. According to Upwork, in 2017 there were over 57.3 million people freelancing and most of the freelancers are likely to freelance by 2027. Most freelancers and small businesses use electronic invoices as it reduces the cost by 60-80%. We need business software that can create invoices.

    Best Invoicing & Billing Software Options

    We are living in a digital era where most of the thing we come across in our day-to-day life is now becoming digital. Electronic invoicing is playing an important role, as this invoicing software is now able to automate pretty much everything and make it ‘paperless’ when it comes to accounting. With the help of these tools, you will be able to get payments faster which will help you to reinvest money in your business quicker and respond faster to the fastest-growing market. So, if you want to automate the accounting of your business then, below we’ve listed the best billing and invoice that can help businesses streamline their billing and invoicing processes, saving time and improving efficiency.

    Best Billing and Invoicing Software for 2023

    Zoho Invoice

    Rating 4.6/5
    Best For Small Business Owner
    Deployment Cloud, SaaS, Web-Based, Desktop (Mac, Linux, Chromebook and Windows), Mobile (Android, iPhone, iPad)

    Zoho Invoice – Best Free Invoicing Software

    Zoho Invoice is a user-friendly billing and invoicing software that allows you to track time, create customized invoices, and receive payments quickly. It is a cloud invoicing system designed to meet in particular the needs of small and developing businesses, hence it is a great software for crafting and distributing invoices. Zoho Invoice is quick and on-point and enables facilitated time tracking, online payment acceptance, automated reminders, etc.

    Complete Zoho Invoice Tutorial For Beginners

    Features offered by Zoho Invoice

    • A wide range of invoice templates is available that can be easily customized according to your need.
    • Facility to automatically collect recurring payments.
    • Automated payment reminders to customers to ensure timely payments.
    • Different currency and language options to bill your customers.
    • Converts Your estimates into invoices in a single click.
    • Customer portal to empower your clients with all the transactions in one place.
    • Charge your customer automatically using their card details with the Auto charge feature.
    • Easy Integration with all Zoho and third-party tools like Slack, Google workspace, Dropbox, Evernote, and much more.

    Pros:

    • Multiple payments option
    • Customer support in 10+ languages
    • Invoice Scheduling
    • Easy refund and advance payments
    • 30+ reports to provide detailed insights
    • Mobile app is available
    • Simple interface
    • 100% Free to use

    Cons:

    • Software is a little bit complicated for beginners
    • Complexity in changing dual-language invoice

    Pricing Plans

    Zoho Invoice is 100% free billing and invoicing software offering everything a small business needs.


    Try Zoho for FREE

    Vyapar

    Rating 4.4/5
    Best For Small and Medium Indian Market
    Deployment Desktop (Windows), On-Premise (Windows), Mobile (Android)

    Vyapar – billing and invoicing software 

    Vyapar is a business management app designed for small and medium-sized Indian business owners. It enables you to manage invoices/receipts, estimates, payments, inventory, clients, and more. Vyapar is GST compatible so it allows you to create and share GST-compliant invoices and tally them, generate precise financial reports, calculate taxes automatically, and also file GST tax returns. One can check inventory instantly, see their stock status live, enable low-stock alerts, and track complete inventory quantity and stock value along with information like expiry date, batch number, and more. It has both mobile and desktop versions.

    Features offered by Vyapar

    • Creates professional invoices that help to establish brand identity.
    • The software can be used online as well as offline without any interruptions.
    • More than 10 invoice and billing templates to create professional invoices.
    • Basic accounting features can be utilized free of cost with the robust android app.
    • Features like inventory tracking keep you informed about the available stock.
    • It helps to prepare GST reports based on all the transactions you’ve made on the software.
    • Capability to generate 37+ business reports that provide an overview of your business health.
    • Both online and offline payments can easily be managed and tracked.
    • The online store feature launches your business online within a few hours.

    Pros:

    • Android and windows software is available.
    • 15-day free trial on the premium plan.
    • Line inventory status.
    • Automatic data backup.
    • Simple and modern interface.
    • Mobile app is available.
    • Multiple payments option.

    Cons:

    • Live support is not available.
    • Only works on a single system.

    Pricing Plans

    Vyapar Mobile App (Basic Version) is completely free of cost. Its paid plans pricing is given below:

    Plan Price
    Basic Plan (Only Desktop) ₹1799 Device/Year
    Basic Plan (Desktop + Mobile) ₹2159 Device/Year
    Saver Plan (Only Desktop) ₹3449 Device/Year
    Saver Plan (Desktop + Mobile) ₹4124 Device/Year
    Only Mobile Plans (Basic) ₹539 Device/Year
    Only Mobile Plans (Saver) ₹1012 Device/Year

    FreshBooks

    Rating 4.5/5
    Best For Large enterprises that require many features
    Deployment Cloud, SaaS, Web-Based, Desktop (Mac, Windows), Mobile (Android, iPhone, iPad)

    FreshBooks – Invoicing Software

    FreshBooks is a smart accounting solution now being used by 5 million business and freelance accountants worldwide. FreshBooks is the holder of “Finances Online’s Best Accounting Award” for 2018 and also has the highest customer satisfaction reviews. With FreshBooks, one can collect payments online via PayPal, Google Checkout, or any Credit Card. It is a reliable and fast accounting tool that allows complex financial management into an enjoyable experience as it makes creating professional-looking invoices a matter of a few clicks. FreshBooks’ auto-billing feature allows you to generate invoices and charge your customers’ credit cards on a regular basis by creating recurring profiles. It is also available for both Android and iOS, allowing the user to run business everywhere, using mobile devices.

    Features offered by FreshBooks

    • Automated late payment reminders to customers whenever a payment is delayed.
    • Time tracking feature to calculate working hours and accurate billing in the invoice.
    • Easy collaboration with clients and teams with project management features.
    • A robust dashboard that gives a quick overview of your business performance.
    • Automatic smart mobile scanning helps you to scan the bills and capture the transaction so that you do not need to enter manually.
    • Connect all your bank accounts and credit cards in one place and it will automatically import the expenses to avoid manual entry.
    • Cloud storage is available to store all the receipts online.
    • Loaded with all the basic accounting features like double-entry accounting, balance sheet, trial balance, chart of accounts, and much more.

    Pros:

    • Mobile app is available
    • Automated payments
    • Automated bank reconciliation
    • Excellent support
    • Interactive interface
    • Automatic tax calculation

    Cons:

    • Doesn’t generate tax reports
    • Software crashes sometimes

    Pricing Plans

    FreshBooks offers a 30-day Free Trial. And, paid plan details are given below:

    Plan Customer Price
    Lite 5 $4.5/month or $130.50/year (10% off)
    Plus 50 $9.00/month or $261.00/year (10% off)
    Premium Unlimited Billable Clients $16.50/month or $478.50/year (10% off)
    Select Unlimited Billable Clients Custom Pricing

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    QuickBooks Enterprise

    Rating 4.5/5
    Best For Small to Mid-Sized Product-Based Businesses
    Deployment Cloud, SaaS, Web-Based, Desktop (Mac, Windows), On-Premise (Windows, Linux)

    QuickBooks Enterprise – accounting and business management solution

    QuickBooks Enterprise is an end-to-end accounting and business management solution to cater to the needs of high-growth businesses. The platform offers a robust set of functionalities that keeps the user or the firm at the best of their finances. One can get access to sales and customer management and also gets to handle the invoices easily. QuickBooks Enterprise offers a fully integrated solution and can support up to 40 users, plus offers more than 200 3rd party integrations, automated reporting, user-friendly interface to deliver greater functionality.

    Features offered by QuickBooks Enterprise

    • Personalized insights into reports such as profit and loss, balance sheet, trial balance, chart of accounts, and much more.
    • Every transaction is automatically categorized in an organized manner.
    • Customize your invoice that conveys your brand image by adding a logo and brand color.
    • Real-time alert of the invoice, when it is viewed and paid.
    • It empowers your customer to pay the invoice amount by setting up a payment button.
    • The split-up payment feature enables you to charge a client based on the progress of the project.
    • Automated expense categorization by connecting bank accounts, credit cards, square, and PayPal into QuickBooks.
    • Resources like articles, video tutorials, webinars, and online communities are available to enhance your knowledge to use the software effectively.

    Pros:

    • Automated payment reminder
    • Mobile app is available
    • Custom access to multiple users
    • MailChimp and third-party integration
    • Excellent support
    • 30-day free trial

    Cons:

    • Payroll plans at additional cost
    • Complex pricing structure
    • Limitation on the number of users

    Pricing Plans

    QuickBooks Enterprise has three paid plans, Gold, Platinum, and Diamond, each plan offers a free product tour. Pricing details of each plan are given below:

    Plan Price
    Gold $1740/year
    Platinum $2140/year
    Diamond $4200/year


    Start Using QuickBooks Now

    Invoice Quickly

    Rating 4.2/5
    Best For Small Businesses, Freelancers and Agency Owners
    Deployment Cloud, SaaS, Web-Based

    Invoice Quickly – online invoicing software

    Invoice Quickly is an online invoicing software solution designed to help entrepreneurs, freelancers, business owners, and other professionals manage their billing. It allows the user to create invoice templates and then download them later as PDFs. With Invoice Quickly, you can customize the invoices with a log, indicating the client’s and also the user’s personal information, setting the currency, and including the product’s or service’s description, along with the bill. It is a very easy software to use as one has to spend less time on paperwork and spreadsheets while creating invoices or bills.

    Features offered by Invoice Quickly

    • The customizable invoice with automated payment reminder, due date setup, and integrated payment.
    • Professionally designed estimate templates that can be easily customized.
    • Ability to convert the approved quotes into invoices in a single click.
    • Facility to attach important files and documents in estimates.
    • Recurring invoice feature that automates the process of billing.
    • Email templates that are customizable based on your brand image.

    Pros:

    • Automatic tax calculation
    • Expense categorization
    • Sharable link to view estimates online
    • Mobile app is available
    • 256-bit SSL encryption security
    • 30-day free trial
    • Easy-to-use interface

    Cons:

    • Lack of video tutorials to use the app
    • Fewer integration options

    Pricing Plans

    Invoice Quickly offers a Free plan and has two pricing plans which are Pro Plan and Premium Plan. Pricing details of each plan are given below:

    Plan Clients Price
    Pro 15 $10/month or $99.99/year
    Premium Unlimited $20/month or $200/year

    Wave

    Rating 4.4/5
    Best For Easy and Free Invoicing Software
    Deployment Cloud, SaaS, Web-Based, Mobile (Android, iPhone)

    Wave – Invoice Generator

    Wave is a 100% free invoice generator that aims to support small business owners. It is an award-winning financial software specially designed for entrepreneurs, it is one of the most useful invoicing and accounting tools for small businesses and also freelancers. As a cloud-based software, it helps to generate and send out invoices, generate reports about your finances, perform accounting, payroll checks, track receipts, scan receipts, etc. Wave is totally free and can be used for an unlimited number of users, guest collaborators, and income & expense tracking.

    How to Create and Invoice in Wave Accounting

    Features offered by Wave

    • Easy switch between manual billing and automatic billing based on your need.
    • Auto sync of all the invoices and payments made through the software.
    • Easy tracking of payments to automate the process and build a healthy customer experience.
    • Notification alert of every viewed, opened and paid invoice.
    • Web-based software, so that you can access it anywhere, anytime with an internet connection and browser.
    • Facility to automate the whole billing journey with the help of invoice recurring features.
    • Intuitive dashboard that gives a quick insight into the business finances.

    Pros:

    • Personalized help from wave advisors
    • Invoicing, accounting, and banking are 100% free
    • Simple and easy-to-use interface
    • 256-bit SSL encryption to ensure safety
    • Mobile app available
    • 30-day free trial on paid features

    Cons:

    • The software is glitchy sometimes
    • PayPal import was abandoned

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    Xero

    Rating 4.4/5
    Best For Accountants and Bookkeepers
    Deployment Cloud, SaaS, Web-Based, Mobile (Android, iPhone, iPad)

    Xero – accounting software

    Xero is one of the leading names on the list of invoicing and accounting software designed for small business owners and accountants. Xero focuses on the customer experience and also it comes with a 30-day free trial version to check by the users. Their goal is to help small businesses thrive, offering a broad range of features designed with their success in mind. This tool provides 24/7 support and allows for unlimited users, helping you boost your business without wasting time. Xero allows you to quickly send bulk invoices to customers, saving you time. It’s interesting to note that you can be alerted when invoices are opened! Xero is easy to set up and comes with many features such as streamlined transactions, financial health monitoring, inventory management, and also a large number of useful integrations.

    Features offered by Xero

    • Professional-looking invoices with a pay now button to accept payment on the go.
    • Payment reminders to the customers before and after the due date.
    • Easy quote creation and seamless conversation into invoices when it is approved.
    • Feature to send multiple invoices by combining them into pdf and sending it via email.
    • Store and manage all your bills payable in a single place and set them on a priority basis.
    • Easy Integration with gusto to manage employees’ payroll through a single platform.
    • Varieties of reports are available to view and share the financial health of the business.

    Pros:

    • Easy-to-use interface
    • Mobile app available
    • Wide range of third-party integration
    • Multiple user collaboration
    • Hubdoc to capture data automatically
    • 30-day free trial
    • Inbuilt payment option in online invoice

    Cons:

    • Only online support is available via chat
    • Need to purchase payroll separately
    • Free plan is not available

    Pricing Plans

    Xero has three paid plans, Early, Growing, and Established. Pricing details of each plan are given below:

    Plan Price
    Early $13/month
    Growing $37/month
    Established $70/month

    Brightbook

    Rating 4.5/5
    Best For Creative Professionals and Companies
    Deployment Cloud, SaaS, Web-Based

    Brightbook – Free Billing and Invoicing Tool

    Brightbook is a cloud-based financial management and invoicing system that provides basic features. Brightbook allows managing the invoices and accounting for multiple companies and accounts, and most importantly it is Free. Brightbook allows the user to calculate profits and losses, generate tax reports, get insights into how much money the clients owe the user, and create and send professional-looking branded invoices for the clients. One can add multiple users and select who can see what, adding an extra addition to privacy and security. It allows the user to create invoices from the client’s quotes, once one receives a quote it can be converted into an invoice in just one click. The unique features of Brightbook make it one of the most valuable and popular tools for small businesses, startups, freelancers, contractors, etc.

    Features offered by Brightbook

    • Quotes to invoice conversion once approved by the client.
    • Multiple currencies to bill your client in their currency and seamlessly change the currency whenever you want.
    • Send an email to your client consisting of a bill, right from your dashboard.
    • PayPal integration to receive payments of the invoice.
    • Visual representation of bills and expenses with the tag of paid and unpaid.
    • Graphical charts that show the statistics of business cash flow.
    • All the data is stored on the cloud with bank-level encryption.

    Pros:

    • APIs Integration
    • Multiple user access
    • Quick Cash Flow insights
    • Budgeting and forecasting
    • Free to use

    Cons:

    • Confusing user interface
    • Only desktop app is available
    • No third-party integration

    InvoiceOcean

    Rating 4.9/5
    Best For Small businesses, entrepreneurs, freelancers and enterprises.
    Deployment Cloud, SaaS, Web-Based, Mobile(iPhone, iPad)

    InvoiceOcean – online invoicing software

    InvoiceOcean is online invoicing software that focuses on speed as one can create professional-looking and accurate invoices in just 30 seconds, making it a big-time savior. Once the invoice is generated, one can send the link within an e-mail to the client, directly via the software and then the client can view it online or can download it as a PDF. The software automates the creation of invoices by providing auto-completion based on the data that the user has entered and also adds pre-defined VAT rates, as one picks up a suitable rate.

    Features offered by InvoiceOcean

    • Billing in almost all major currencies and supports 29 different languages.
    • Automatically fills all the client information just by entering the client’s tax id.
    • Allow Multiple users to access the software with limited control.
    • Recurring invoices to the client on a specific date in a preset format.
    • The online payment button to each invoice empowers the customer to pay their bill seamlessly.
    • Wide range of financial reports with charts and graphs.
    • It supports all major world currencies and can also issue bilingual invoices.

    Pros:

    • 30-day free trial
    • User-friendly interface
    • Mobile app is also available
    • Integration with major payment and e-commerce sites
    • Knowledge base to help use the software efficiently

    Cons:

    • Poor support
    • Limit on number of users

    Pricing Plans

    InvoiceOcean has one free plan which is limited up to 3 invoices per month and three paid plans Basic, Professional, and Enterprise. The Professional plan is the most popular plan which offers unlimited invoices and estimates.

    Plan Customer Price
    Free 3 $0/month
    Basic Unlimited $7.2/month
    Professional Unlimited $14.40/month
    Enterprise Unlimited $25.60/month

    Logaster Invoice Generator

    Rating 3.4/5
    Best For Create Invoices Online Easily
    Deployment Cloud, SaaS, Web-Based, Mobile(iPhone, Android, iPad)

    Free Invoice Generator by Logaster

    Logaster is a European company that provides branding services to its clients. Their product list includes a Free invoice generator. Logaster’s Invoice Generator is an effective invoice generator. They provide very simple templates making it easy for people to create one. You can choose from multiple templates for your different needs. Logaster lets you easily customize the template and create unlimited Free invoices to send to your clients.

    Features offered by Logaster Invoice Generator

    • List of invoice templates to customize according to the brand image.
    • Inbuilt feature to create logo on the go and upload it to your invoice.
    • Easy to send invoices in the form of pdf.

    Pros:

    • Free of cost
    • Quick Invoice generation
    • Built-in logo generator

    Cons:

    • Features are limited to the invoice creation
    • Poor user interface

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    Invoice At Once

    Rating 4.5/5
    Best For Freelancers and Independent Workers
    Deployment NA

    Invoice At Once – Free Invoice Generator

    InvoiceAtOnce is a free invoice generator that allows users to create professional invoices quickly and easily. With InvoiceAtOnce, users can create invoices in a variety of formats, including PDF, Excel, and Word. The platform also offers customizable templates and the ability to add logos and other branding elements to invoices.

    One of the key features of InvoiceAtOnce is its simplicity. The platform has a user-friendly interface that makes it easy for users to create invoices with just a few clicks. Users can enter their business details, add line items and taxes, and choose from a range of payment options. InvoiceAtOnce also allows users to send invoices directly to their clients via email, making it easy to get paid quickly.

    Features offered by Invoice At Once

    • Template customization by uploading the company’s logo and changing the color.
    • Easy to create an invoice just by filling the basic details.
    • Simple to download and email the invoice in a single click.

    Pros:

    • 100% free to use
    • Option to choose currency and font

    Cons:

    • No additional features except generating invoices
    • Poor interface and irritating ads
    • No support

    Tipalti

    Rating 4.7/5
    Best For Companies with Complexities
    Deployment Cloud, SaaS, Web-Based, Desktop (Windows, Mac, Linux), Mobile (Android, iPhone, iPad)

    Tipalti Accounts Payables Automation Solution

    Tipalti provides a unified cloud platform that automates the majority of your global payables operations, allowing you to drastically reduce the amount of time spent managing supplier payments. It is another popular platform for billing and invoice alternatives that works for best-in-breed financial management practices to keep the business in the customers’ loop. Tipalti is known for tackling problems such as late payments, administrative overload, non-compliance, etc. The software allows for streamlining the way users make payments to customers, partners, vendors, and all other people affiliated across 190 countries across the world, making it a popular platform to use for invoicing and billing. Tipalti provides payment automation, a supplier management portal, simplified management, a KPMG-certified app, etc.

    Features offered by Tipalti

    • It provides the flexibility to suppliers to upload the bill via email or your portal.
    • Optical character recognition technology automatically captures data from invoices to avoid manual work.
    • Ability to make payments of multiple invoices by making a group of invoices.
    • 6 payment methods to send money in 120 currencies.
    • Consolidated reports of different financial statements in one place

    Pros:

    • Fraud detection
    • Easy integration with accounting and ERP tools
    • Drag and drop interface
    • Instant payment reconciliation

    Cons:

    • Features are complex to understand for beginners.
    • No free trial.

    Pricing Plans

    Plan Price
    Tipalti Express $149/month

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    Conclusion

    Using billing and invoicing software can be a valuable investment for businesses of all sizes. It can help streamline billing and invoicing processes, improve accuracy, facilitate expense tracking, and enhance the professional appearance of the business.

    There are many different billing and invoicing software options available, so it’s important to choose one that meets the needs of your business. Some things to consider when choosing billing and invoicing software include the price, the features offered, and the level of integration with other business tools (such as accounting software). By carefully evaluating the options available and selecting the right software for their needs, businesses can effectively manage their billing and invoicing and save time and resources in the process.

    FAQs

    What is billing and invoicing software?

    Billing and invoicing software is a tool that helps businesses create and send invoices, as well as track payments and expenses. It can be used to automate many of the tasks associated with billing and invoicing, saving time and improving efficiency.

    Why are billing and invoicing software important for businesses?

    Billing and invoicing software can help businesses streamline their billing and invoicing processes, reducing the time and effort required to manage these tasks. It can also improve the accuracy of invoices and enhance the professional appearance of the business.

    What should I consider when choosing billing and invoicing software?

    When choosing billing and invoicing software, you should consider the price, the features offered, and the level of integration with other business tools (such as accounting software). You should also consider the specific needs of your business and choose software that meets those needs.

    Are there any free billing and invoicing software options available?

    Yes, there are some free billing and invoicing software options available. However, these may have limited features and may not be suitable for all businesses. It is important to carefully evaluate the options and choose the software that best meets the needs of your business.

    Can billing and invoicing software be used for businesses of all sizes?

    Yes, billing and invoicing software can be used by businesses of all sizes, from small startups to large enterprises. There are many different options available, so businesses can choose the software that best meets their needs.

    What are some of the best Software for invoicing?

    For small businesses, Wave Invoicing, Zoho Books, and Simplybill are the best options available, while Scoro, FreshBooks and Sage provide comprehensive solutions for larger enterprises.

  • Success Story of Outplay: The New-Age Sales Outreach Platform to Help You Book More Meetings

    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 Outplay.

    The sales team plays a crucial role in any business. Increasing annual sales and profit is the core focus of any business. With the evolution of automation in business processes, the scope of the sales industry is continuously changing. Businesses are leveraging sales and marketing automation tools to quantify their marketing campaigns and workflows. Sales engagement platforms are one example of automating sales activities. A Sales engagement platform helps businesses in streamlining the communication of the sales team to their customers.

    Outplay is an Indian-American SaaS (Software as a Service) company headquartered in San Francisco, United States. The company offers a sales engagement platform that helps businesses to prospect efficiently and reach their revenue goals faster. Read to know about Outplay, its founders, the startup story, solutions it provides, funding, and more.

    Outplay – Company Highlights

    Startup Name Outplay
    Headquarters San Francisco, United States
    Industry Software
    Founders Ram Papineni and Laxman Papineni
    Founded 2019
    Total Funding Raised $9.3 Million
    Website outplayhq.com

    Outplay – About
    Outplay – Industry
    Outplay – Founders and Team
    Outplay – The Idea and Startup Story
    Outplay – Vision
    Outplay – Products
    Outplay – USP
    Outplay – Marketing Strategy
    Outplay – Funding
    Outplay – Growth
    Outplay – Competitors
    Outplay – Tools Used in the Company
    Outplay – Recognition and Achievements
    Outplay – Future Plans

    Outplay – About

    Outplay is a new-age sales engagement platform that combines multi-channel outreach and sales automation to help sales teams hit their revenue goals.

    The company’s core belief is to always deliver top-notch services to their customers, along with stellar support. It believes in providing meaningful opportunities for their employees to grow in, at all levels and takes pride in sharing all their wins, thoughts, and failures openly across the team. Its mission is to help salespeople achieve their dreams.

    Outplay – Industry

    Outplay is part of the Sales Software Industry. The company is rapidly expanding and bringing in more customers from the SMB market.

    Outplay – Founders and Team

    Outplay Founders
    Outplay Founders

    Brothers Ram and Laxman Papineni co-founded Outplay in the year 2019  in Wilmington, Delaware. Laxman is the CEO of the company while Ram serves as its CTO.

    Ram and Laxman have always been building things together. Ever since they were little boys, the idea of building something of their own fascinated them – anything that was creative, or would help people around them. Being brothers, both of them understood each other’s plus points early on. Ram was more interested in building platforms/tools, and Laxman was more inclined toward connecting with people and sharing stories. That’s how their current roles fit perfectly with their personalities and goals.

    Outplay currently has over 100 employees, and offers the most flexible work culture that helps in delivering a sense of belongingness to the employees and makes them create a proper work-life balance. Outplay sees its employees as the most important assets in the company, and does everything possible to make them feel comfortable and seen. They believe that it’s only when the employees’ needs are met, that they can continue building a world-class product.

    Coming to the hiring part, the company is able to bring in a lot of its employees through the simple means of referrals. Its existing employees – the Outplayers as they are commonly known, are always eager to share the openings within their network. And when they bring in someone, they’re rewarded for it. Apart from that, we’re also big on campus drives to hire college freshers, helping them start their professional journey with Outplay.

    Outplay – The Idea and Startup Story

    Outplay Logo
    Outplay Logo

    The whole idea of offering a Sales Engagement Platform began with blogging. Ram and Laxman’s first venture was a blogging network. That’s where Ram and Laxman learned about start-ups and what goes behind running one. They started their first startup called AppVirality – a referral marketing software that was backed by shoppingmode Microsoft Accelerator.

    During their first start-up stint, they realized the importance of sales and charted down how they could make it better for all the sales folks out there. They had 2-3 of their friends who left their jobs to join them at AppVirality first, which then morphed into Outplay. Together all of them sat through hours to build the right framework, get a few investors interested, and started pitching Outplay to people who were looking for a switch.

    Outplay – Vision

    Outplay’s short-term vision is to get good brand recognition and generate substantial revenue from the SMB market.

    Its long-term vision is to become a household name for large enterprises and expand fully to regions like ASEAN and APAC. Outplay aspires to become the No. 1 sales engagement platform in the world.

    Outplay – Products

    Outplay Product
    Outplay Product

    Outplay currently offers one product, which is a sales engagement platform that helps salespeople journey through their goals with ease, removing unnecessary clutter and providing top-class features to help enhance their outreach every step of the way. The product has a sleek UI that helps sales reps navigate between various tasks and sequences with ease, and also helps them hit their targets on time, with proper prioritization and automation.

    Outplay – USP

    Outplay’s USP includes multi-channel outreach which is a mix of channels like email, phone, SMS, social media, and magic chat – a webchat box that is launched when a prospective customer clicks on an email link. Apart from this, they also provide access to top-notch features such as multi-channel outreach, smart sales sequences, real-time sales insights, website, and email tracking, the ability to set activity triggers, and powerful analytics among others.

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    Outplay – Marketing Strategy

    Outplay launched an eBook as part of its marketing efforts and was able to create a lot of buzz in the market. The ebook is titled ‘30 Sales Teams Share Their Sales Sequences’ and contains a list of full-fledged sales sequences from top companies like Drift, Hubspot, Vidyard, etc. along with 30+ sales sequences from hyper-growth companies.

    Outplay – Funding

    Date Stage Amount Investors
    3rd March 2021 Seed funding $2 Million Sequoia Capital
    21st July 2021 Series A $7.3 Million Sequoia Capital

    Outplay’s series A funding which was in July 2021, helped the company successfully expand its operations, increase its workforce to 100+ employees, and work towards building features for its current and future customers, by understanding its current needs and issues.

    Outplay – Growth

    The company currently operates in the US and Indian markets. It has users spread over both regions.

    Outplay – Competitors

    Some of the top competitors of Outplay are:

    • Outreach
    • Salesloft
    • Klenty
    • Yesware
    • Reply.io
    • Mixmax
    • Mailshake
    • Lemlist

    Outplay – Tools Used in the Company

    Few tools that help accelerate the startup are:

    • Hubspot
    • Gong
    • Salesforce
    • Slintel
    • Sales Navigator
    • Seamless
    • Lusha

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    Outplay – Recognition and Achievements

    The company’s recent funding news made it to Times Square, New York – announcing how Outplay raised $7.2 Million, Series A. Apart from that, its podcast ‘The Hype is Real’ was added to Sequoia’s Surge Academy.

    Outplay – Future Plans

    Since artificial intelligence is the future, especially of SaaS platforms, Outplay is also infusing AI into its sales platform. This step will simplify the lives of sales reps even further.

    Its users already have access to a feature that can magically write their sales sequences with the power of AI, but the future will see them making the AI capabilities more stronger and robust. With the company’s sole focus being on the USA for now, it wishes to expand towards ASEAN and APAC countries in the near future.

    FAQs

    When was Outplay founded?

    Outplay was founded in 2019 in Wilmington, Delaware.

    Who are the founders of Outplay?

    Ram Papineni and Laxman Papineni are the founders of Outplay.

    Who are the top competitors of Outplay?

    Some of the top competitors of Outplay are:

    • Outreach
    • Salesloft
    • Klenty
    • Yesware
    • Reply.io
    • Mixmax
    • Mailshake
    • Lemlist