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  • How is Facebook Using AI to Enhance Its Shopping Features?

    In this growing modern world, technology has taken a huge leap. And in today’s world AI (Artificial Intelligence) is the new face of modern technology. In terms of Computer Science, AI or Artificial Intelligence refers to human-like Intelligence exhibited in a computer.

    Now after years of being devoted and researching science-fiction, today AI is a part of our daily lives. And the advancement in AI technology has made our lives more functional and comfortable than before. AI is completing our words as we type them, providing us directions in the form of tutorials and other functions in other ways too.

    Facebook, one of the largest social media platforms by Mark Zuckerberg, has now announced the same. Quoting that, for the improvement in the experience of shopping across its various ventures, a new way has been made for the existing and future businesses to set up a single online store for customers to access on Facebook.

    The company has already characterized all the new products powered by AI. Also, the machine learning system has a surge in its vision for an all-in-one AI assistant that can search, categorize, and can stimulate products. While at the same time it can personalize its recommendations to the individual persons as per their choice preferences.

    Facebook – AI Features
    Facebook – AI To Automate Marketing
    Facebook – AI Making Small Scale Business Possible
    Facebook – AI Product Recognition
    Facebook – AI for Identifying many unseen objects and other attributes
    Facebook – AI Stepping Footprints for the Next Age Shopping
    Conclusion
    FAQs

    Facebook – AI Features

    Before digging deep into the matter, let’s understand what are the key AI features Facebook is using to improve its shopping experience. So they are:

    1. To automae the Marketing
    2. Making Small Scale Business Possible
    3. Product Recognition
    4. Identifying many unseen objects and other attributes
    5. Stepping Footprints for the Next Age Shopping.

    Now let’s discuss them one by one.

    Facebook – AI To Automate Marketing

    Many E-Commerce businesses just as Facebook Marketplace depend on Artificial Intelligence. They depend on automating a host to stimulate the job being behind the stage. It starts from learning choice preferences and body types to look into and understand the possible factors that may influence the buyer. It may also influence the purchase decision of an individual or a group of purchasers.

    McKinsey and Company known as a trusted advisor and counsellor to many of the world’s most influential businesses and institutions estimate that Amazon, which recently used AI to handle that what the shopper inquiries. And this in return generated 35% from its product recommendation engine.

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    Facebook – AI Making Small Scale Business Possible

    Facebook marketplace
    Facebook marketplace

    “We are seeing a lot of small businesses making their presence for the first time on this online platform, (as a result of the ongoing pandemic) whom we never saw before,” said Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg during an online Livestream event conducted. He also disclosed that small-scale businesses around the globe used the platform’s services.

    “This can help to endure some of the loss made due to this pandemic to their lost businesses. Facebook is distinctively positioned to be a winner for small-scale businesses. It is helping them to grow and create a healthy environment for their successful business.”

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    Facebook – AI Product Recognition

    AI transforms Facebook shopping
    AI transforms Facebook shopping

    Facebook remarked that its AI shopping systems segments detect and make classification of images to know of that. They also make a decision, where the products should appear and deliver shopping suggestions.

    One of the systems that Artificial Intelligence uses is known as GrokNet. It was trained on seven sets of data. It contains images of the products that many as in millions of users post, purchase, and sell in a bulk or dozens of categories.

    Facebook – AI for Identifying many unseen objects and other attributes

    To help the buyers or the respective shoppers find accurately what they are searching for, the product recognition systems must shine at recognizing specific product characteristics. They are also known as attributes. But there lie thousands of other possibilities. Each one of them can be applied to a range of other categories. For example, a person can have blue jeans, blue shirts, blue pants, or even a blue car.

    Mainly, several state-of-the-art classification models have taken the superintendent approach. But the thing is that, with near-infinite possibilities, this is not much ascendable.

    Facebook – AI Stepping Footprints for the Next Age Shopping

    Today, Artificial Intelligence shopping is walking its infant steps. From machines to photos of different products are still just collections of pixels. Just like “full sleeves”, others are more objective like “casual wear” Or “cold weather”. So basically training these AI models which can flexibly make the use of the precise and right information provided in each situation. Because each situation requires solving scientific and engineering challenges.

    With each year Artificial Technology systems are being built smarter. Due to this training, they are finely tuned to understand all the shopping-related photos and text with the state of the art being exact.

    And on a good note, there’s a long way to go for such futuristic innovations. Personalized shopping is very difficult as everyone’s choice preferences are becoming distinctive and are constantly evolving with time. So they need to keep on building on their fundamental Artificial Intelligence. This may also include enhancement for even deeper AI understanding for not only just products and fashion. But also dynamic context and vivid knowledge of relationships should be kept in mind with the items. Thus making us one more step closer to the next age of shopping.

    Hence, there are advantages as well as disadvantages of Facebook’s AI on shopping that the buyers or the sellers will face. They are:

    1. Requirement for selling through the Facebook marketplace.
    2. Allotment of selling Fee
    3. Unable to include extra additional or enhanced features
    4. Excluding buyers, purchasers, or customers who are not on Facebook

    Conclusion

    Although these are the advantageous aspects that Facebook AI is having for Next-generation shopping. Yet it is also easy to forecast the disadvantages that will come along with it. But as this system came into force due to the pandemic going on, it’s not certain how it will perform in the future once the pandemic is lifted. So now all the small-scale businesses should incur some profits from the losses they endured.

    So it’s a major plan set up by Facebook for the coming age. But the generation will decide its operation. Keeping in view its pros and cons, it’s the upcoming generation who’ll take charge of its fluent operation.

    But whatever it may bring tomorrow, it surely had its impact now bringing success to many. Successful results say that not only in Facebook but everywhere else Artificial Intelligence is the new face for the rising tomorrow. Hence it’s a great initiative led by Facebook to help many small-scale businesses come out of their losses to start freshly. However, disadvantages may show up at any possible time. Hence, Time is the only condition evident of the fact that what will be the new aspect of Artificial Intelligence.

    FAQs

    How AI is transforming the way people shop?

    AI system automatically scans through the product catalog and identify the exact product and makes it more convenient to give better shopping experience to the customers.

    Does Facebook use AI for advertising?

    Facebook uses AI to advertise the relevant content to users through text, photos and videos.

    How is AI used in marketing?

    AI tools use data and customer profiles and find best way to communicate with customers. They communicate though relevant tailored messages at the right time without any intervention from marketing team members.

  • 3Hcare – Find the Best Healthcare Services In India

    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 3Hcare.

    Diagnostics tests are done to find if a person has a certain disease. An accurate diagnostic test is important to avoid trial and error in treatment. 3Hcare, a Delhi-based healthcare startup is here to ensure that your diagnostics are done safely and conveniently. It provides different health packages, 3Hcare Thyrocare Aarogyam being the most popular one. Read this article to know more about a healthcare startup in India, 3Hcare and its success story.

    3Hcare – Company Highlights

    Startup Name 3Hcare
    Headquarters Delhi
    Founders CA (Dr.) Ruchi Gupta, Dr. Ravinder Pal Singh Malhotra & Dr. Gurdeep Singh Ratra
    Sector Healthcare
    Founded September 2016
    Funding $1.1 Million
    Parent Organization 3Hcare.in

    About 3Hcare
    3Hcare – Healthcare Industry Details
    3Hcare – Founders of 3Hcare and Team
    3Hcare – How was 3Hcare Started?
    3Hcare – Name and Logo
    3Hcare – What is 3Hcare?
    3Hcare – USP and Innovation
    3Hcare – Revenue Model
    3Hcare – Funding and Investors
    3Hcare – User Acquisition
    3Hcare – Startup Challenges
    3Hcare – Future Plans
    3Hcare – FAQs

    About 3Hcare

    3Hcare is a Delhi-based startup operating in the healthcare sector. 3Hcare is an online marketplace for healthcare services. It provides detailed information on healthcare services provided by PAN India. A user can simply log on to 3Hcare’s website and find nearby diagnostics and hospitals as per their requirements.

    Our mission is to assist in getting quality health services and facilities for the community, to promote wellness, to relieve suffering and to restore health as swiftly, safely and humanely as it can be done, consistent with the best service we can give at the highest value for all concerned. – Ruchi Gupta (Founder of 3Hcare)

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    3Hcare – Healthcare Industry Details

    According to the Indian Diagnostic Services Market Outlook 2020, the diagnostic services market will be growing at 27.5%  for the next 5 years. The market has reached INR 860 Billion in revenues by the end of 2020. Some of the major causes for this fast-growth are increasing health consciousness, an increase in the number of people having insurance cover, improving healthcare services, etc. Covid-19 is also one of the major reasons for the borne of the healthcare industry. The Novel Coronavirus has not only hit the nations mentally but also economically, especially the healthcare industry.

    The healthcare market is expected to reach $372 billion by 2022.

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    Founders of 3Hcare and Team

    CA (Dr.) Ruchi Gupta, Dr. Ravinder Pal Singh Malhotra and  Dr. Gurdeep Singh Ratra are the founders of 3Hcare.

    3Hcare's Founders
    3Hcare’s Founders

    Ruchi Gupta is a doctorate in Risk Management and a fellow member of The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India. She pursued her MBA from GGSIP University and Bachelor’s degree in Commerce from SRCC, University of Delhi. She is a prolific educationist, qualified UGC NET-JRF having a decade-long experience in mentoring management students for the corporate world in the field of applied Finance & Business Management. She also has extensive experience in reviewing and writing subject-specific books in finance & management. Her numerous papers have been published & presented in renowned journals and conferences. She is a member of the panel of authors in the Central Board Of Secondary Education (CBSE).

    Exclusive Interview of 3Hcare’s Founder Dr. Ruchi Gupta

    Dr. Ravinder Pal Singh Malhotra is an MBBS, MS (General Surgery, MAMC, Delhi) and M.Ch. (GI & HPB Surgery and Advanced Laparoscopic Surgery, GB Pant Hospital, Delhi). He did his fellowship in Liver & Multi Visceral Transplant at Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, New Delhi. He worked as an online CME Observer at John Hopkins Hospital, USA and Chairperson in Harvard Accredited CME’s for GI Surgery. He has around 13 years of experience in Liver Transplant, HPB & GI surgery in India with exceptional donor and recipient surgery safety records. Ravinder has been a part of more than 700 live-donor-related liver transplants, 500 pancreatic surgeries, 2000 liver surgeries, 500 gall bladder cancer resections and has vast experience in other GI surgeries.

    Dr. Gurdeep Singh Ratra is an MBBS, M.S. (Orthopaedics) and M.Ch. (Orthopaedics). He did his fellowship in Joint Replacement (Endoklinik, Germany) and Joint Replacement and Sports Medicine (AKH Hospital, Vienna, Austria). Dr. Gurdeep has clinical experience of more than 13 years in the field of Orthopaedics. He has a special interest in joint replacement and deformity correction. He is passionate about the Ilizarov technique and limb-lengthening procedures.

    The other core members of the team are–  

    Mr. Ankush Mehra, who is the director of 3Hcare. Ankush is a Post Graduate in Commerce and MBA. Ankush is a prolific supply chain specialist and a startup man with 22 years of experience, known for creating and managing highly responsive yet cost-effective and efficient solutions. He worked with corporates like Honda Siel Cars India Pvt. Ltd., Samsung Electronics India Information & Telecommunications Ltd., Metro Cash & Carry, Reliance Hypermarkets & LimeRoad.

    Mr. Sumit Gupta is an IT manager at 3Hcare. He did his MCA from Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University. He is an expert at C#.net and VB.net languages, with extensive experience in working on databases like SQL SERVER, MYSQL, ORACLE. His functional domain encompasses operating systems like Windows 8, Windows 7 and Windows Server 2012.  He is proficient in scripting using HTML, ASP.net, Javascript, and Jquery. He has over 8 years of experience with a number of projects for Indian as well as international clients.

    The founders decided to divide the team into three departments – one to focus on the medical field, one on the marketing and the other in the technical domain. Initially, the startup was functional with only 10 members including founders. But with the growing response from the public, the team had managed to expand over 50 members within less than 6 months.

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    3Hcare – How was 3Hcare Started?

    Ruchi had never planned to become an entrepreneur. She pursued her MBA along with CA and is also a Ph.D. scholar. Inherited the interest in teaching from her parents, she also wanted to become a lecturer. In pursuit of her dreams, she became a mentor to management students and worked as a lecturer in a college in Delhi for many years.

    She noticed many complications that the common public faces while getting a diagnosis in hospitals and other test centers, one incident that especially left her wanting to make a difference was the difficulty faced by a relative in finding a good hospital and diagnostic services during the time of emergency.

    Ruchi’s relative was suffering from dengue and needed immediate admission, wherein the hospitals denied admitting him due to overcrowded. She was not in a position to wander around to different hospitals in search of bed availability. But giving reference to a known doctor, the patient was immediately admitted. The problems did not end, soon the admin staff asked her to get the patient tested for platelets, due to lack of facilities during that time. This was another challenge for her to track and locate a diagnostic lab that can provide the test results immediately for further treatment. In the end, only her reference helped the patient with regular tests and treatment. This incident came as a wake-up call for Ruchi and the idea of starting 3Hcare was formed.

    However, to practically execute the idea, she still had many hurdles to cross. She wanted to create an online portal by tying up with various labs to make all the tests available to the patients with ease and transparency. To develop a team, she actually shared the idea with more than 300 people and at last, found 4 reliable sources who were convinced with her idea – Dr. Gurdeep Singh Ratra, Mr. Ankush Mehra, Mr. Sumit Gupta and Dr. Ravinder Pal Singh. And finally, with the initiative of the co-founders, 3Hcare was started in September 2016.

    The 3H stands for – Help, Health, and Happiness.

    Our aim is to help the common masses to bridge the gap between healthcare services and patients .  

    3Hcare Logo
    3Hcare Logo

    3Hcare – What is 3Hcare?

    3Hcare is an online marketplace for health services. They provide several featured tests and packages. 3Hcare Thyrocare Aarogyam provides Aarogyam profile packages and preventive health checkup packages. The services currently provided by the company are –

    1. Diagnostics – With over 1500 labs and 350 test centers (NABL accredited) to choose from over 50+ locations throughout India, this vertical provides ease for every patient to search, compare & book online lab tests with the value addition at discounted rates.
    2. Plan My Surgery – One of the essential innovations rendered by the online portal includes Plan My Surgery vertical. An innovation by which the patient can plan their surgeries with the best surgeons at the viable cost & schedule. Moreover, a price comparison is available and the patient is also able to seek time availability and appointment with the best in class doctors and hospitals.

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    3Hcare – USP and Innovation

    Some of the USPs of 3Hcare are–

    • Free sample collection.
    • Option to choose among the best labs in the patients’ preferred locations.
    • Price transparency.
    • Attractive discounts and offers on services.
    • Under Plan My Surgery, 3Hcare makes all information available such as expenses required for surgery, doctors available and the accreditation of the hospital. All this information is available online, which makes it easier for patients to make informed decisions.

    3Hcare – Revenue Model

    3Hcare’s revenue model is simple. As its services are free for the patients, it charges only support fees from centers and hospitals.

    3Hcare – Funding and Investors

    3Hcare has raised a total of $1.1 Million in 2 rounds of funding. Its funding details are as follows:

    Funding Date Funding Stage Funding Amount Investors
    September 2017 Angel round $100K Angel Investors
    August 2018 Venture round $1 Million –

    3Hcare received an angel funding of  $100K, just within 11 months of its inception. The funds were used to develop the IT infrastructure and enhance the other verticals. Recently 3Hcare also raised a second round of funding of $1 million.

    3Hcare – User Acquisition

    For 3Hcare, the main focus was to provide the best of services to the public. Word of mouth publicity is something that the healthcare startup focused on acquiring new users. Price transparency and discounted prices/offers have also attracted new customers.

    Further, to add to the CSR activities, and spread awareness about the importance of timely diagnosis, the team organizes regular free health checkup camps at various locations like rural areas, slums and villages across India.

    The main focus was to deliver the best services to the public. If the services are provided with the best class quality, the word of mouth power by the patients/persons seeking the services are the best reference publicity.

    3Hcare – Startup Challenges

    In the initial months when the website was under construction, it was a huge challenge for the 3Hcare team to convince tying up with diagnostic centers. Still, they managed to bring around 180 centers. Today the portal is ready with over 1000 test centers (PAN India) to choose from with further verticals yet to be added.

    According to Ruchi, apart from developing a reliable team, the other major challenge was to self-check for quality labs before getting associated with them. The task was tedious to completely check each and every lab initially for quality, report accuracy and accreditation.

    While the further expansion of 3Hcare’s other vertical – Plan My Surgery, rendering comparative quotes, providing real-time data of bed and doctors availability was initially a challenge.

    With the progression of data management in our cloud, synchronization helped to overcome the herculean task. Our main aim was to develop the IT infrastructure and strengthen it with the application of artificial intelligence and machine learning.

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    3Hcare – Future Plans

    3Hcare has established itself as a trusted name among its niche customer base. In terms of patients, booking tests through 3hcare.in have increased 10 folds in the past 2-3 months, and the same is the case with revenue.

    3Hcare currently has 400+ diagnostic partners and 40+ hospital partners.

    The company’s future plans are-  

    • Launch Diagnostic Centre vertical of 3Hcare with the initiation of website functional throughout the world (with an aim to boost medical tourism in the upcoming years).
    • Launch all verticals along with Mobile applications on a PAN India basis.
    • International Tie-ups for the second opinion.
    • Opening of Branches and regional offices.
    • Covering PAN India and start of Medical Tourism Services.
    • Adding new Healthcare and wellness verticals like  Yoga, Homeopathy, Ayurvedic and fitness centers.
    • Starting “Manage My Health” vertical.
    • To open offline labs throughout the tier 3 and tier 4 cities in India to encourage patients to get timely tests.
    • Become the Leading Marketplace in India’s Healthcare sector by 2022.

    Our team has already commenced the opening of offline labs by the name of ‘3Hcare Labs’ in the rural areas. Presently, we have targeted to cover the western UP and Eastern Haryana belt where most backward villages are still devoid of diagnostic centers (that has only sample collection centers, report generation takes 2-3 days there).

    3Hcare – FAQs

    Does 3Hcare provide Healthcare services?

    No, 3Hcare provides details about healthcare services available pan India along with the specialization they have. Users need to register and choose as per their needs.

    How much is the registration fee to use 3Hcare?

    3Hcare registration fee is free. After registration, customers can avail themselves of the benefits provided by 3Hcare.

    How is 3Hcare review?

    3Hcare has average to good ratings. It is quite safe to trust and use 3Hcare.

    Who is the 3Hcare founder?

    CA (Dr.) Ruchi Gupta, Dr. Ravinder Pal Singh Malhotra & Dr. Gurdeep Singh Ratra are the three founders of 3Hcare.

    How much is 3Hcare funding?

    3Hcare has around $1.1 Million of funding.

    Who are the competitors of 3Hcare?

    DocPrime, Zoylo, Renew Health and Spreemo are the top competitors of 3Hcare.

  • Should you Outsource your link building campaign?

    Hey, let me share a story with you first.

    It was the early days of my SEO career. I used to work for a Digital Marketing agency. I was handling a brand new website there.

    As the website was new, thus my primary focus was working on on-page & technical SEO. I spent most of my time building Content strategy and fixing Site architecture.

    But there was pressure from the client-side, as they want to strengthen their link profile too.

    Whereas, Our Agency did not have the resources to build high-quality relevant links. Thus, they outsourced the complete Link building work to another agency.

    End of the first month, they have created around 60 links. ( Most of them were profile links, blog commenting and web 2.0)

    End of the 2nd month, they doubled the number of similar kinds of shitty links.

    But DR remained 0.

    There is no significant improvement in the 3rd month as well.

    As a result, My agency lost the client.

    But, It does not mean those profile links, blog commenting and web 2.0 do not work today.

    It still works, Only if you are doing it strategically.

    Thus, before outsourcing your link building campaign, ask the following questions to yourself.

    1. Have you just started working on your brand new website?
    2. Do you have the budget to hire a professional link builder, a professional content writer and the maintenance cost of tools?
    3. Are you passionate about learning different techniques of Link building & want to pursue a career upon that?
    4. Do you have the time to invest in a link building campaign?
    5. Is your business heavily dependent on SEO?
    6. Do you know how to hire the right link building service provider?

    Let’s jump into the first question.

    1. Have you just started working on your brand new website?

    If yes! Then you must focus on your content and on-page SEO first. I have seen people crazy about building links while they are just starting.

    At Startuptalky, we were able to generate 5000 daily pageviews without building significant links. (We got some natural links due to our quality of content and created very few profiles and blog commenting links.)

    Links work as fuel to your traffic. Thus build a strong foundation with your content and proper On-page SEO first, and bring decent organic traffic. You can always invest later in Link building to boost your traffic and Domain Authority.

    2. Do you have the budget to hire a professional link builder, a professional content writer, and the maintenance cost of tools?

    If the answer is yes, then go for it and launch your link building outreach campaign.

    If the answer is no, then simply outsource. You need professionals to bring results and get your ROI back. Else, end up losing your money and time.

    If you are passionate about link building, then do it by yourself. You can explore this field in your own way and may end up with your own link building methodologies.

    If you don’t have time or you have other important tasks to run your business smoothly. Then outsourcing to the right person or agency is the best option for you.

    5. Is your business heavily dependent on SEO?

    If SEO is the core of your business. Then always hire an expert. Not just to build high-quality links but also to ensure that you are not building spammy links which may affect your website badly. No matter what Google says, Link is still a key factor to outrank your competitor and scale your website traffic.

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    If you are about to hire a link builder or any agency, here are a few questions you should ask them.

    1. Ask about their process. How will they create links?

    2. Ask them to share some relevant sites from where they will create links for you. Then check and verify the quality of those websites.

    Check the right metrics
    Check the right metrics 

    3. Always ask for sample links and check their indexing status.

    4. Confirm the duration of the live links.

    5. Avoid people who send you the list of hundreds of profiles, directory submission, and PBN  links. Also, ignore who offers you guest posts in bulk on low-quality irrelevant sites with cheap prices.

    6. Ask about their previous clients or any successful case study. You can cross-check the backlink profiles of those websites. It may give you an overview of their links.

    7. Always focus on quality over quantity.

    Conclusion

    However, you need to understand link building is not a one-time investment. It’s a process. It takes time and money.

    Thus don’t invest in link building randomly. Keep tracking and measuring the KPIs. Analyse what results they are bringing.

    According to my experience, there is no single way to get success in SEO. It’s about finding the winning process that will work best for your website. Till then, keep experimenting and keep hustling.

    FAQ

    Link building is a search engine optimization technique that increases your search engine ranking. Having a good number of links to a website indicates that the content there is valuable.

    You can expect to pay around $100-$250 per hour or $2,000 – $8,000 per month on average.

    Yes, Link building is a crucial part of any successful SEO strategy.

  • Quizizz – Think Fresh, Think Different!

    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 Quizizz.

    Did you ever give a second thought to a better constructive process? What about discovering something new, maybe a new product? Creativity is a process or a pathway towards expressing brand new relationships or so. One should always scrutinize ideas to explore relatively in a different way because, in today’s world, the difference has got a great glamour!

    Quizizz is a creative software company and is also considered to be the world’s most engaging learning platform. The platform allows the users to create as well as find gamified quizzes. Quizzes are simple and an old concept but Quizizz have made this more interesting therefore by gamifying it! Read the Quizizz success story below.

    Quizizz – Company Highlights

    Startup Name Quizizz
    Headquarters Bangalore, Karnataka, India
    Sector E-Learning, EdTech, Gamification, Software and Training
    Founders Ankit Gupta and Deepak Joy Cheenath
    Founded 2015
    Website quizizz.com

    Quizizz – About
    Quizizz – Startup Story
    Quizizz – Founder and Team
    Quizizz – Business Model
    Quizizz – Revenue Model
    Quizizz – Funding and Investors
    Quizizz – Competitors

    Quizizz – About

    Quizizz is a software company. The application is mostly used in group works, examinations, classes and tests. This allows both the parties – the teachers as well as the students to stay online at the same time. Presentations can also be made with the help of Quizizz. So, Quizizz is a user-friendly application not only for the students but also for the working professionals like teachers or the employees of the MNC’s. It is nothing but an online assessment equipment!

    Logo, Quizizz

    Quizizz – Startup Story

    Since quizzes used to be a common and a boring subject, eventually, people started to lose interest and the subject material got lost into the hustle and bustle of life. BITS-Pilani alumni Deepak and Ankit thought of making this more interesting by adding creativity to it. The founders combined the concept of gaming along with the questions and feedback was too attached to it to aid the youngsters to learn more! This made online classes much more interesting than the usual. It especially helped the teachers to bring a smile to the student’s faces. The team made the theory of quizzes easier and made it more enjoyable.

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    Quizizz – Founder and Team

    Ankit Gupta and Deepak Joy Cheenath are the founders of the company Quizizz.

    Ankit Gupta

    Ankit Gupta is the CEO and the Co-Founder of the company. He began his career as an Intern at Pentair Water India Ltd. Ankit worked as a Contract Developer in Google. He was also an Intern at Flipkart.com. Ankit was an Analytics Specialist at Opera Solutions. He was also the Co-Founder of the company WizenWorld. He completed his education from the Birla Institute of Technology and Science, Pilani.

    Deepak Joy Cheenath

    Deepak Joy Cheenath is also the Co-Founder of the company. He is a software developer. He began his career as an Intern at SAP Labs. Deepak was the Software Development Engineer at Amazon. He was also the Co-Founder of the company WizenWorld. Deepak has also completed his education from the Birla Institute of Technology and Science, Pilani.

    Founders, Quizizz

    Quizizz – Business Model

    The business model of Quizizz is quite simple! This application helps the teachers to construct quizzes of a particular topic in their own way by enhancing the curated subject on the platform. Then, the students take the quiz in their online classrooms, especially which can be later checked by the subject teachers with the help of the collected data.

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    Quizizz – Revenue Model

    Quizizz can be operated on any device like Android, Web browser, Chrome and iOS. It is kind of a free equipment for quizzers. Creation of a quiz or ready-made quizzes, everything is accessible over here. Quizizz Super is an upgraded version of Quizizz where one needs to pay. This platform has got a new paid plan along with itself. It helps the teachers a lot especially with amazing offers whenever he or she is upgrading their basic plan.

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    Quizizz – Funding and Investors

    Quizizz has raised a total amount of $47 million in funding over the 4 funding rounds.

    Date Transaction Name Money Raised Lead Investors
    June 29, 2021 Series B $31.5 million Tiger Global Management
    March 9, 2021 Series A Rs. 910 million Eight Roads Ventures India
    August 9, 2018 Venture Round $3 million Nexus Venture Partners
    January 1, 2015 Seed Round – Prime Venture Partners

    Quizizz is funded by 8 investors. Tiger Global Management is the most recent investor.

    Quizizz – Competitors

    The top competitors of the company Quizizz are Quizlet, Kahoot and Gimkit.

    Quizlet

    Quizlet is one of the top competitors of Quizizz. This company is headquartered in San Francisco, CA, USA and was founded in 2005. Quizlet works in the Educational Software sector.

    Kahoot!

    Kahoot! is the top #2 rival of Quizizz. This company is headquartered in Oslo, Oslo. Kahoot! also operates in the Educational Software industry.

    Gimkit

    Gimkit is also perceived as one of the top competitors of Quizizz. This company is headquartered at Seattle, WASHINGTON, D.C. and was founded in 2017. Gimkit also works in the Educational Software field just like the other above mentioned companies.

    Since everything is online now, Quizizz being an online assessment equipment has allowed the users to create quizzes. And this has turned out to be a fantastic idea recently because of its uniqueness which no one has examined before!

  • SeekaHost Review: Is WordPress Blog Hosting with Easy Hosting Control Panel Any Good for Bloggers?

    Finding the best hosting provider for WordPress is like looking for a needle in a haystack. There is a lot of hay in the stack, which will prick you, much like a needle. But if you want to stitch a beautiful dress for yourself, you’ll need nothing but the needle.

    But don’t you worry, we have found the needle for you. After checking many WordPress Blog hosting providers, we can see that SeekaPanel by SeekaHost is the most viable solution. It’s an easier solution for anyone to quickly do a domain name search and register a domain and host it with 1-Click WordPress hosting.

    Honestly, it’s so easy that you can get your blogs up in a matter of 5 minutes of less.

    Our comparative analysis has proven that SeekaHost is the best WordPress blog hosting provider for WordPress Bloggers.

    Whether you are a WordPress veteran or a beginner blogger, SeekaHost has the right assortment of features and aptly priced plans for you.

    Want to know what makes SeekaHost the best hosting for WordPress blogs?

    Read on to find out what our detailed study found out.

    SeekaHost Offers The Cheapest WordPress Blog Hosting @ $1.49/Month

    Yes, you read it right. It is $1.49 per month. Not $14.9 per month. For less than $2 per month, you can get WordPress blog hosting services.

    If that isn’t cheap, we don’t know what is.

    For single WordPress blog owners, the Basic plan costing not even $2 comes with 10GB storage speed and 10GB bandwidth. A good enough offering for beginners.

    However, if you have more than one WordPress blog under your wing, you can go for the higher plans.

    For 3 WordPress websites, SeekaHost offers the Standard plan @ $5.5/month. For 5 blogs, there is the Growth plan for $8/month. If you need WordPress hosting for 10 blogs, the Premium plan comes in at $12/month.

    Even the highest-priced plan is affordable enough when you see that it comes with 100GB disk space and 100GB transfer speed.

    Other than ordinary WordPress blog hosting, SeekaHost also has VPS, PBN, and Premium SEO hosting plans.

    SeekaHost Has The Widest Assortment of Hosting Features

    Do you just consider storage and bandwidth when selecting WordPress blog hosting providers?

    If yes, you are missing out on a lot.

    With SeekaHost, you get good storage and bandwidth along with the following features:

    ●       Domain search & registration

    ●       One-click WordPress installation,

    ●       Free SSL certificate,

    ●       DDoS protection,

    ●       Daily backups,

    ●       A secured backend,

    ●       Malware protection,

    ●       Support for WordPress blog owners migrating from other hosting providers,

    ●       Fast speed servers,

    ●       Tracking facility,

    ●       A, B, and C class IP addresses for hosting servers.

    The multiple IP address hosting solution is something special from SeekaHost and if you are creating private blog networks, then using the PBN hosting is easy.

    SeekaHost’s WordPress Control Panel Is the Best In Class

    The WordPress Hosting Control Panel that you get with SeekaHost is hands down one of the best in the market today.

    Why?

    Because:

    ●       It brings all the settings and controls to one unified dashboard

    ●       It can be connected with Google Analytics to keep track of website traffic, right from the control panel. And,

    ●       A knowledge base and FAQ section are available right from the control panel to help you in WordPress blog hosting.

    In most cases, trying to sail on multiple boats eventually leads to drowning. But SeekaHost seems to be defying that. And with such finesse.

    Other than hosting and a WordPress control panel, some of the other blogging-related services you can avail of include:

    • Domain Name Search and Registration – Whether you need a .com, .co.uk, .net, .org, or any other domain name you will find the cheapest rates at SeekaHost. Even their renewal rates are budget-friendly.
    • Complete Suite of Digital Marketing Services – SEO, SMM, link building, online marketing, Google Adwords, or whatever services you need, you can contact the SeekaHost team for that.
    • Minecraft Servers – If you are a gaming fan, you can start a Minecraft server along with a WordPress blog about it with SeekaHost. They have a list of cheap Minecraft hosting servers.
    • Blogging, WordPress, and SEO Guides – Fernando Raymond, the man behind SeekaHost is a blogger, SEO, and WordPress expert. His information-loaded guides about these topics are available in the knowledge base and blog section of SeekaHost. He also teaches blogging and how to build a private blog network.
    • SeekaHost App for Blog management – SeekaHost app is your single-stop solution to manage multiple hosting accounts from the same dashboard. If you are planning on building a private blog network, it would be a savior for you.

    Get Your 7-Day Free Trial Today

    SeekaHost offers the best and the cheapest WordPress blog hosting services. And that is without compromising on site speed, security, features, or customer support.

    While other bigshots in the WordPress blog hosting world are busy charging higher monthly costs, SeekaHost focuses on better service at the most affordable rates.

    So, what are you waiting for? Activate your 7-day free trial today.

    Find out what plan suits you the best and begin your ascent to the top of the web with your WordPress blog and SeekaHost by your side.

  • SignalX Startup Story: AI-powered Risk Intelligence Platform

    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 SignalX.

    With a vision to build a global counterparty verification platform catering to risk intelligence requirements across industries, Govind Balachandran, Zakir Wahab, and Piyush Arora founded SignalX. SignalX is an intuitive AI-powered Risk Intelligence platform that runs comprehensive risk assessment & credibility verification on any given target – individual or a corporate entity, in just 48 hours. In just 3 years, SignalX has served over 200+ risk and compliance professionals across various domains.

    StartupTalky had an Exclusive Interaction with Govind Balachandran, Co-Founder & CEO of SignalX to get insights on the Startup Journey of SignalX. Also to know the business model of SignalX, its funding status, How SignalX started, its future plans & more.

    SignalX – Company Highlights

    Startup Name SignalX
    Founders Govind Balachandran (CEO), Zakir Wahab (CFO), Piyush Arora (CTO)
    Headquarters Hyderabad
    Founded 2018
    Total Funding $750K (Seed)
    Industry Regtech, Compliance, Due Diligence, Risk Assessment
    Website signalx.ai

    SignalX – About and Vision
    SignalX – Industry Details
    SignalX – Founders and Team
    How SignalX Started?
    SignalX – Product/Services
    SignalX – Name Meaning & Logo
    SignalX – Business Model and Revenue Model
    SignalX – Startup Launch
    SignalX – Startup Challenges Faced
    SignalX – Marketing Strategy
    SignalX – Growth
    SignalX – Funding and Investors
    SignalX – Competitors
    Tools used by SignalX to run startup
    SignalX – Awards and Achievements
    SignalX – Future Plans
    SignalX – FAQs

    SignalX – About and Vision

    SignalX is an intuitive AI-powered Risk Intelligence platform that runs comprehensive risk assessment & credibility verification on any given target – individual or a corporate entity, in just 48 hours. It provides detailed financial, legal, compliance, and reputational analyses on potential clients, vendors, business partners, investment targets, and all counterparties and third parties. SignalX enables businesses to build trust and transact faster. The platform is used by Risk, Audit, Valuation, Compliance, and Forensics teams across industries.

    The long-term vision of SignalX is to build a global counterparty verification platform catering to risk intelligence requirements across industries.

    “We want to evolve and be recognized as a trusted RegTech and Compliance brand across the globe.” says Mr. Govind Balachandran, Co-Founder & CEO, SignalX

    SignalX – Industry Details

    In a broader sense, SignalX operates in the domain of credibility verification and risk tech technologies which cuts across Regtech, Fintech, LegalTech, ComplianceTech, GRC, and more. There have been massive investments by the Big4, Compliance Firms, and Law Firms into forensic technologies. GRC as a domain is expected to be at 60B USD over the next 5 years. The team at SignalX is hoping to play a meaningful role in this space.

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    SignalX – Founders and Team

    Govind Balachandran (CEO), Zakir Wahab (CFO), and Piyush Arora (CTO) are the founding team of SignalX. Govind looks after the sales, marketing, and delivery ops of the business. Zakir looks into finance, compliance, hiring, and other ops. Piyush looks into product and engineering.

    “We have been working together for many years now. It was a no-brainer decision to start together. We met each other through our previous ventures” Govind added.

    Govind Balachandran | Co-Founder & CEO, SignalX

    SignalX founder and Ceo
    Govind Balachandran, Co-Founder, and CEO of SignalX

    Govind Balachandran has over 7 years of experience in marketing and product development. At SignalX, his prime focus is on growth and New Business acquisition. Previously, he was the Director at Nebulae Software. He also co-founded Kaddy Analytics, a cloud-based analytics platform for stakeholders in the education system. Govind has devised enterprise solutions for forensic and fraud analytics, Edtech, and HRTech verticals and has worked with various Series A and Seed-Stage startups, playing a key role in their growth and product development. Govind holds a Bachelor of Technology (Honors) in Mechanical Engineering with a Minor in Economics from IIT Hyderabad.

    Zakir Wahab | Co-founder & CFO, SignalX

    Zakir Wahab is a serial entrepreneur & a co-founder/CFO at SignalX. He is an alumnus of Andhra University, is an early-stage investor, and brings immense experience across the fields of finance, strategy & e-governance.

    Piyush Arora | Co-founder & CTO, SignalX

    Piyush Arora heads the technology team at SignalX. As co-founder & CTO, he also looks after product growth & engineering. Piyush is an alumnus of IIT Hyderabad and previously worked at Qualcomm.

    SignalX founders and team
    SignalX Team 

    How SignalX Started?

    It started out wanting to build a simple tool that can help in assessing the credibility of counterparties. The team had known first hand, the challenges faced by risk and forensic teams and their expectations from technology. SignalX has been focused on this objective from day 1 and over time, through many iterations, today it is one of the most comprehensive risk intelligence platforms with analytics that helps you make risk decisions faster and accurately.

    SignalX – Product/Services

    SignalX runs its proprietary machine learning algorithms to gather data through sources that are publicly available like datasets managed by government agencies, regulators, media journals, and other third parties. Its algorithms assure reduced false positives and ensure the efficacy and accuracy of an extensive research process. SignalX also generates and shares reports with clients in just 2 days, which gives them the edge of speed for the next steps and reduces the extremely tiresome and tedious process of diligence.

    The core value proposition of SignalX is to offer risk signals pertaining to any target whose name is given to the platform – an individual or an entity. Hence the name SignalX.

    SignalX
    SignalX Logo

    SignalX – Business Model and Revenue Model

    SignalX offers multiple pricing options. Its pay-as-you-go model is quite popular. However, most of its users prefer a subscription service.

    SignalX – Startup Launch

    “We’ve been creating content on our blogs from day 1. Inbound has been a strong channel for us. Customer referrals are another channel that continues to bring us leads. We have had a strong focus on customer service and retention from the very beginning” says Govind.

    SignalX has a strong focus on organic traffic. Some of the content the team created about a year back is performing better month on month. The company is continuously driving improvements to these assets. The brand is a key element for SignalX going forward.  A risk intelligence platform must be comprehensive, thorough, auditable, and credible. These are some of the values that the customers expect from the company. To develop its PR channel, SignalX has signed up with SSPR.

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    SignalX – Startup Challenges Faced

    Having bootstrapped the firm for the first two years, it was required to develop cash flows from month one. Being a new firm in the market, it is very tough to build trust and credibility. Being bootstrapped also makes one conscious of not undercutting the pricing such that it’s not profitable to operate. Early on, the team had to deal with situations where they had to develop trust with clients to get them to give SignalX business. Today SignalX has worked with over 200+ compliance and risk teams. So, it’s much easier to represent itself in front of newer clients.

    The pricing strategy was one of the items that took quite a bit of iteration. The iterations are also difficult since it creates discrepancies between newer and older customers. However, since SignalX has been able to deliver strong value, it has been able to work with the customers in updating the pricing.

    SignalX – Marketing Strategy

    SignalX is heavy on Organic and Referrals. Email marketing is something it incorporates a lot. The company has received some of the best throughputs from the long-form content it created on its blogs a while back. “We’re still driving continuous improvements on this front” Govind added.

    SignalX – Growth

    SignalX has served over 200+ risk and compliance professionals across various domains. Its solution has made a mark in Section 29A (IBC) due diligence requirements in the Insolvency & Bankruptcy domain. Its product is also used by the forensic teams at some of the Big4’s.

    The company’s goal is to build a global counterparty risk intelligence solution that can cater to requirements from across industries, law enforcement, governments, and more. It is adding newer use cases to the platform every quarter. SignalX recently launched Supplier and Partner Risk Intelligence modules to help supply chain or distribution heavy businesses to assess legal, financial, reputational, and compliance risks associated with counterparties.

    SignalX – Funding and Investors

    Being bootstrapped since its inception in 2018, SignalX received seed funding from 3Lines VC, 9Unicorns, and Hyderabad Angels for $750k in September 2020.

    Date Stage Amount Investors
    Sept 2020 Seed Fund $750k 3Lines VC, 9Unicorns, Hyderabad Angels

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    SignalX – Competitors

    SignalX’s competitors include RDC, Bloomberg, Dun & Bradstreet, Exiger, DueDil, DDIQ, and others.

    Tools used by SignalX to run startup

    Few tools which SignalX uses to run the startup are – Hubspot, ActiveCampaign, Jira, Hootsuite, etc.

    SignalX – Awards and Achievements

    • SignalX got recognized by the Government of Telangana
    • Winners of EmergeX, Microsoft in the domain of Emerging Technologies

    SignalX – Future Plans

    SignalX will continue to add more use cases to its platform to cater to a wider set of requirements. The team will be strengthening the ML to bring best-in-class technology for risk professionals. SignalX will also be expanding its database coverage across borders and also forensic analytics to improve fraud and risk signal detections. “We have some exciting features coming up that look at how we fundamentally address credibility verification and manage the risk process.” says Govind Balachandran, Co-Founder& EO of SignalX.

    SignalX – FAQs

    What is SignalX?

    SignalX is an intuitive AI-powered Risk Intelligence platform that runs comprehensive risk assessment & credibility verification on any given target – individual or a corporate entity, in just 48 hours.

    Who are the founders of SignalX?

    Govind Balachandran (CEO), Zakir Wahab (CFO), and Piyush Arora (CTO) are the founding team of SignalX.

    How much funding has SignalX raised?

    SignalX received seed funding from 3Lines VC, 9Unicorns, and Hyderabad Angels for $750k in September 2020.

    Is SignalX Indian Company?

    Yes. SignalX is an Indian company headquartered in Hyderabad, India.

    Who are SignalX’s competitors?

    SignalX’s competitors include RDC, Bloomberg, Dun & Bradstreet, Exiger, DueDil, DDIQ, and others.

    How does SignalX source data for analysis?

    SignalX sources its data from datasets managed by government agencies, regulators, publicly available media, and various other third-party datasets. SignalX runs its proprietary machine learning algorithms to reduce false positives and infer meaning. SignalX does not look into any data points that are not made publicly available by the target company or by other parties either through the media or in their regulatory filings.

  • SleepyPanda Startup Story: Get Affordable Mattresses Online

    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 SleepyPanda.

    With the advent of young Indian players and big brands in the Indian Mattress industry, many customers have switched from traditional street-side shops and local ‘Bhaiyas’ to branded mattresses. It is undeniable that the organized sector is multiplying in India with rising demand for good quality mattresses by customers. One of the startups in this industry, SleepyPanda is here with its innovatively designed mattresses.

    Founded by Ms. Monica Thakur, Mr. Suhas Masuti, and Mr. Veerendra Koujalagi, SleepyPanda is gearing to disrupt the bedding industry! Since its inception, SleepyPanda has been growing immensely, with 35 mattresses sold in the first week itself. The company targets to sell at least 1200 mattresses per month and secure 100 Cr sales by the end of FY21.

    StartupTalky interviewed Ms. Monica Thakur, Founder & J.MD of SleepyPanda to get insights into the Startup Journey and Growth Story of SleepyPanda. Know all about SleepyPanda’s products, How SleepyPanda started, its history, future plans, founder, competitors & more in the article ahead.

    SleepyPanda – Company Highlights

    Startup Name SleepyPanda
    Founder Monica Thakur, Suhas Masuti, Veerendra Koujalagi
    Founded 2020
    Headquarters Bangalore
    Industry Bedding, Sleep Wellness, Mattress
    Funding Bootstrapped
    Website sleepypandaindia.com

    SleepyPanda – About and Vision
    SleepyPanda – Mattress/Bedding Industry Details
    SleepyPanda History – How it Started
    SleepyPanda – Products/Services
    SleepyPanda – Founders
    SleepyPanda – Name Meaning and Logo
    SleepyPanda – Growth
    SleepyPanda – Business Model and Revenue Model
    SleepyPanda – Competitors
    SleepyPanda – Tools used to run startup
    SleepyPanda – Future Plans
    SleepyPanda – FAQs

    SleepyPanda – About and Vision

    SleepyPanda deals with the mattress and provides comfort at an affordable price. SleepyPanda kicked off in 2020 with a simple idea to improve peoples’ well-being through comfy sleep experiences.

    • The long-term vision of SleepyPanda – To get into the furniture business as well.
    • The short-term vision is to get the change in sleeping style from using traditional to modern mattresses.
    • The Core Belief of SleepyPanda – “People should get this Quality and comfort across pan India”

    SleepyPanda – Mattress/Bedding Industry Details

    • SleepyPanda Industry -The bedding industry
    • Target market size- Age group 20 to 60 years pan India
    • Future Prospects of SleepyPanda in the next five years – In Top 5 best mattress brand

    The memory foam bedding market is gearing for growth of more than INR 300 crore by 2022. Given the current scenario, memory foam is touted as an ‘In’ thing. Body pain and aches are appearing to be driving up the demand for memory foam. Who would have thought that our key working hours and day will be spent working on the bed? Sleep has never been more critical – and challenging – during periods of stress, fatigue, and untimely routines. Changing lifestyle and working patterns —are leading to create this new market for the startups. The bedding industry and mattresses as a category have welcome news for this industry.

    The wave of technology has revolutionized the sleep industry. With huge expertise in coir, cotton, and foam, the unorganized sector has a significant role in the Indian mattress industry. The Indian mattress market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 10 percent and is on route to attain a USD 2.5 Bn mark by the year 2022.

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    SleepyPanda History – How it Started

    Reminiscing the start journey of SleepyPanda, Monica Thakur (Founder of SleepyPanda) says –

    “We got into the mattress business because I didn’t like the people who do not believe in Modern mattresses. As with thought, my mother and other family members too were facing back pain issues due to traditional mattresses, thus there comes thought for purchasing a modern mattress and to experience the WOW feeling!

    When I went with my mother to shop for a new mattress. This idea of having a business in the bedding industry came to my mind. We were still sleeping on the mattress that we had purchased  7 years back after shifting to a new house. I wanted to continue with the same but the issue is not 1 or 2 they were many hence we decided to get a new mattress. I personally felt I should not repeat the same mistake that we have done 7 years ago. So was hunting for a good mattress to solve the issue of my family because, Good sleep=Happy Family.

    After experiencing the buying process, I felt, nothing had changed, and we were depressed. The stores were dull and unfriendly, the salespeople pushy, and showed 2 to 3 varieties of the mattress. Also, we felt awkward to have a trial at a store in front of people and were uncomfortable too.

    The sales and prices were different in every store, so it was impossible to compare the shops, and I later learned that this is actually a confusing state for us. We came back with an empty hand and my mind full of business ideas with the bedding industry. Which would not just build a better mattress, it would totally change the mattress buying experience.

    When I did not find my wow feeling I decided to give this to all the people across Pan India with just a single click. This idea of having a bedding industry came to my mind with the behind the scene story which was matching with other business partners too and we decided to get a life for Sleepypanda comforts Pvt Ltd. Through various google research, we found that comfortable sleep requirement is never-ending demand. Hence we started with this”

    SleepyPanda – Products/Services

    Sleepypanda Comforts Private Limited is the manufacturer and wholesaler of Vita Ortho Memory Foam Mattress, Mattress Protector, vita Ortho and Luna dual comfort Ortho mattresses, natural yoga mats (Samba, Darba, Banana), Sofa cum bed, memory foam, and microfiber pillows.

    USP and How the Product Works

    SleepyPanda helps you to get rid of sleepless nights. Its Vita Ortho memory mattress helps to get relief in Backache, Cool gel technology used in memory foam helps to maintain the body temperature as per the room temperature, 100 night trial period – if the customer doesn’t like the product then they can return it with full refund assured.

    Indian consumers are still unaware of the necessity of a modern bedding space in today’s hectic and chaotic lifestyle. As a result, they continue to use traditional products, which not only fail to guarantee quality but are also highly overpriced. SleepyPanda endeavors to change this perception. The brand also provides 100-night trials of ortho mattresses so that consumers can make experience-based decisions after using them firsthand. Other added benefits include free shipping and a whopping 10-year warranty.

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    SleepyPanda – Founders

    Monica Thakur, Suhas Masuti, and Veerendra Koujalagi are the founding team of SleepyPanda.

    “We are Mutual friends and one day I informed them of the idea behind good sleep and everyone showed interest to start this brand” Monica added.

    Stressing on SleepyPanda’s Work culture, Monica says – It is flexible. Employees are encouraged to work when they like and how they like it’s just that the work should be effective and completed in time.

    The significance of the name SleepyPanda – As pandas live half of their life in resting, enjoying, and sleeping, Panda was incorporated in the name and logo. The team wants users of its mattress to experience the same sleep as a panda with no worries.

    SleepyPanda Logo

    SleepyPanda – Growth

    Since its inception, SleepyPanda has been growing immensely, with 35 mattresses sold in the first week itself. The company targets to sell at least 1200 mattresses per month and secure 100 Cr sales by the end of FY21. Although the brand is present in PAN-India, it majorly aims to cater to the South India market, including Bangalore, Tamil Nadu, Hyderabad, Telangana, Kerala, followed by Mumbai and Goa.

    Further, it looks forward to becoming a thought leader in the modern bedding space by crafting high-quality products to address all consumer concerns, while also giving back to society through various CSR initiatives, and thus making a difference in the world, globally.

    SleepyPanda – Business Model and Revenue Model

    SleepyPanda’s business model is simple, B2C i.e, Business to Consumers. It is the process of selling products and services directly between a business and consumers. SleepyPanda makes money by selling its products online.

    SleepyPanda products
    SleepyPanda Revenue Model

    SleepyPanda – Competitors

    SleepyPanda’s top competitors are Wakefit, Sleepycat, Emma, flo Mattress, and Duroflex.

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    SleepyPanda – Tools used to run startup

    Few tools which SleepyPanda uses to run the startup – Google Analytics helps SleepyPanda to track the traffic on its website and Freshdesk for CRM ticketing tool.

    SleepyPanda – Future Plans

    SleepyPanda plans to add new technology depending upon the demand and requirement. “Once the bedding industry is set we will get into home furniture.” says Monica Thakur, Founder of SleepyPanda.

    SleepyPanda – FAQs

    What is SleepyPanda?

    SleepyPanda deals with the mattress and provides comfort at an affordable price.

    Who are the founders of SleepyPanda?

    Monica Thakur, Suhas Masuti, and Veerendra Koujalagi are the founding team of SleepyPanda.

    Is SleepyPanda an Indian Company?

    Yes, SleepyPanda is an Indian company headquartered in Bangalore.

    How SleepyPanda makes money?

    SleepyPanda’s business model is simple, B2C i.e, Business to Consumers. it makes money by selling products online. Its products include – Vita Ortho Memory Foam Mattress, Mattress Protector, Microfibre Pillows, etc.,

  • Startup Story of Qandle: All-In-One HR Platform

    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 Qandle.

    Qandle is a young startup focused on re-engineering HR Technology from employees’ perspectives. Founded by Chayan Mukhopadhyay and Himanshu Aggarwal in 2016, Qandle aims to build connected, engaged, and empowered workplaces. It has launched an all-in-one cloud-based HR software solution that impacts the entire employee lifecycle from hire to retire and makes each step smooth and hassle-free.

    StartupTalky interviewed Mr. Chayan Mukhopadyay, Co-founder & CEO of Qandle to get insights into the Startup Journey and Growth Story of Qandle. Know all about Qandle’s business model, How it Started, its funding details, marketing strategy future plans, tagline, and more.

    Qandle – Company Highlights

    Startup Name Qandle
    Founders Chayan Mukhopadhyay (CEO), Himanshu Aggarwal (CTO)
    Founded 2016
    Headquarters Gurugram
    Industry HR Tech
    Total Funding USD 1.2 Mn (Pre-seed)
    Team Size ~ 40 Employees
    Website qandle.com

    Qandle – About and Vision
    Qandle – HR Tech Industry Details
    Qandle – Founders and Team
    Qandle History – How it started?
    Qandle – Product/Service
    Qandle – Name, Tagline and Logo
    Qandle – Business Model and Revenue Model
    Qandle – Startup Launch
    Qandle – Marketing Strategy
    Qandle – Growth
    Qandle – Funding and Investors
    Qandle – Advisors and Mentors
    Qandle – Competitors
    Tools used by Qandle to run the startup
    Qandle – Awards and Achievements
    Qandle – Future Plans
    Qandle – FAQs

    Qandle – About and Vision

    All-In-One HR Platform – founded in 2016, is a young startup focused on re-engineering HR Technology from employees’ perspectives. The brand provides HR Tech solutions that ease the way HR departments operate in companies. It has created an array of different tech-based solutions to fill in the gaps in the usual HR operations.

    The company’s vision is to build connected, engaged, and empowered workplaces. In the short term, the brand plans to continue growing sustainably and profitably, while in the long run, the startup aims at being a leading HR tech solution across the globe. The brand believes that with the right employee experience-focused technology implementation, there can be a sea-size transformation in the way the HR industry operates in India.

    Qandle – HR Tech Industry Details

    According to many credible industry reports such as People Matters, Bersin, IDC, etc. the size of the HR tech industry varies between $50-100Bn. It is growing at 10% CAGR.

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    Qandle – Founders and Team

    Chayan Mukhopadhyay (CEO) and Himanshu Aggarwal (CTO) are the founders of Qandle.

    Qandle Founders and Owners
    (L-R) Himanshu Aggarwal, Chayan Mukhopadhyay – Qandle Founders

    When Chayan met Himanshu, who was proficient with tech, and discussed the idea, he already felt convinced. Himanshu himself had the same experience in terms of clunky HR tools at the organization. He was confident that this idea can be very successfully implemented through refined tech skills.

    Chayan Mukhopadhyay | Co-founder & CEO, Qandle

    Chayan is an MBA graduate from IIM Bangalore (2009-11). Before that, he completed his B.Tech in ECE from IEM (Institute of Engineering and Management, Kolkata). Chayan started his career in 2011, with American Express as Associate Manager. After working for 2 yrs with Amex, next Chayan switched to Jabong as Senior Manager- Operations. He gained good experience and rose to the designation of Deputy General Manager and Head – Marketplace Operations in 2015. He wanted to start building something of his own. That is when he started Perkkx, followed by Qandle, which is his HR Tech venture along with Himanshu.

    Himanshu Aggarwal | Co-founder & CTO, Qandle

    Himanshu is an alumnus of IIT Roorkee. He completed his Engineering in 2007 and started his career as a Software Engineer with Techkriti. After working there for 2 years, he had 2 years stints each with Ibibo Group and Naukri.com as well. Then he joined the founding team of a US-based Foodtech startup Munchado and worked there for about 4 years. He is a cybersecurity expert and has been a tech consultant to multiple growing companies including Shopclues and Askmebazaar. He started Qandle along with Chayan in 2016.

    On paper, Chayan looks at the business and the product side of things while Himanshu looks at the Tech side, but in reality, Chayan and Himanshu discuss everything and they both jointly look at all aspects of the business.

    The current company size is about 40 employees. The team is intentionally kept lean. Work culture is – Get the work done. Qandle hires for just 3 things – attitude, ability, and willingness to learn.

    Qandle History – How it started?

    The idea was first conceived by Chayan. At his previous workplaces, he had experienced the challenge of working on clunky software solutions for different aspects of HR such as leave and attendance, performance, recruitment, reimbursements, etc. While he was working with American Express, it would take him over 30 minutes to submit his mobile bills. However, what struck him most was that organizations had to conduct training sessions for employees on how to use HR tools, which implied that the tools were not very user-friendly. Next, when Chayan worked with more companies, his experience with these tools was no different.

    What further highlighted the lack of a perfect solution was that at least one of these tools would change every 6 months, and since these tools didn’t speak to each other, it would cause a lot of issues.

    However, this alone was not the launchpad for Qandle. When Chayan first entered into entrepreneurship, he launched an employee benefits platform- Perkkx. However, when he met HRs to pitch it, he figured the true pain point – an end-to-end HR tool. They wanted to know if Perkkx could provide an HR tool that worked seamlessly.  That is when Chayan saw the gap and decided to address the same by launching Qandle.

    To explore the model Chayan and Himanshu connected serendipitously. Himanshu had been a techie all throughout his career. They discussed the idea with each other, realized they had complementary skills and decided to launch Qandle together.

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    Qandle – Product/Service

    Qandle leverages different technologies for various solutions depending on the relevant, expected impact, and affordability for the client. It has launched an all-in-one cloud-based HR software solution that impacts the entire employee lifecycle from hire to retire and makes each step smooth and hassle-free.

    The name is a play of letters on Candle. It signifies how we aim to spread light around us by enlightening companies about how to manage, engage, and empower their most valuable asset – employees.

    Qandle’s logo looks like a magnifying glass, it is also a play on the letter Q, as the team named themselves Qandle because they didn’t get the domain candle.com. The logo signifies how companies need to look and listen closely to their employees in order to grow and win in the marketplace.

    Qandle Logo
    Qandle Logo and Tagline

    The tagline  – Smart HR for the Modern Workplace, signifies what Qandle stands for. Qandle wants to work with companies that care about their employees, organizations that want to create connected, engaged and empowered workplaces.

    Qandle – Business Model and Revenue Model

    Qandle follows a classic SaaS (Software as a Service) model where they charge the customers a subscription fee per employee per month. The amount depends on the modules subscribed, the number of employees, and the frequency of payment chosen (discounts are offered for quarterly or annual advance payments as opposed to monthly advance payments).

    Qandle – Startup Launch

    “We used our network and cold emails to get the first 20 customers. The journey of 20 to 100 was easy, as we ensured the initial 20 customers were happy, and then they recommended others” Says Chayan Mukhopadhyay, Co-founder & CEO, Qandle.

    There are no growth hacks that work for the long term, except being customer-focused and ensuring customers are happy. That is the only thing Qandle does.

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    Qandle – Marketing Strategy

    Qandle’s most successful campaign has been ‘word of mouth’. When happy customers recommend others, they purchase the solution without the company having to do much work. As mentioned earlier, keeping current customers happy and satisfied is Qandle’s only growth strategy.

    Qandle – Growth

    Qandle has been cash neutral since March 2020. It operates primarily in India, all across the country.

    Notable clients of Qandle – Spinny, Quality Council of India, Shadowfax, Vidyamandir Classes among others.

    Qandle – Funding and Investors

    Qandle has raised total funding of USD $1.2 Mn to date.

    Date Stage Amount Investors
    2018 Pre-seed USD 1.2 Mn Arun Chandramohan, Redwood Internet Ventures

    Qandle – Advisors and Mentors

    Multiple people including Arun Chandramohan (Ex MD and Founder of Jabong.com). We are part of 2 accelerators as well – Village Capital Future of Work India and Newchip.

    Qandle – Competitors

    “Our biggest competitor is paper and spreadsheet as most companies in India are using those, and these are error-prone, inefficient, difficult to archive and require a lot of manpower. Other companies who are trying to solve the same problem as we are, and who we admire are Darwinbox and SAP Successfactors” Chayan added.

    Tools used by Qandle to run the startup

    Its own software – Qandle, Google Workspace, and Whatsapp

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    Qandle – Awards and Achievements

    Biggest achievement – being able to grow profitably since March 2020, i.e. when the pandemic struck. Managing cash flow is crucial for the survival of any company, and the team is proud that they have been able to do that so far.

    Software Suggest Recognition awards 2021 in 5 categories:
    1. Best support
    2. Best value
    3. Easiest to do business with
    4. Fastest implementation
    5. Best software
    Software Suggest Recognition awards 2020 in 2 categories:
    1. Most popular
    2. Customers’ choice
    Software Suggest Recognition awards 2019 in 2 categories:
    1. Best usability
    2. Highest quality
    Techimply:
    1. Top payroll software
    2. Top HR software
    Financesonline awards 2018 in 2 categories:
    1. Great user experience
    2. Rising star
    CIO awards in 2 categories:
    1. 10 most recommended employee management software solution providers 2019
    2. 20 most promising HRMS solution providers 2018

    Qandle – Future Plans

    Qandle’s aim is to expand the number of clients they serve and make its solution even more intuitive and configurable.

    Qandle – FAQs

    What is Qandle?

    Qandle is a startup focused on re-engineering HR Technology from employees’ perspectives. The brand provides HR Tech solutions that ease the way HR departments operate in companies.

    Who founded Qandle?

    Chayan Mukhopadhyay (CEO) and Himanshu Aggarwal (CTO) are the founders of Qandle.

    Is Qandle an Indian Company?

    Yes. Qandle is an Indian company headquartered in Gurugram.

    How does Qandle make money?

    Qandle follows a classic SaaS (Software as a Service) model where they charge the customers a subscription fee per employee per month.

    Who are Qandle’s Investors?

    Arun Chandramohan and Redwood Internet Ventures led the Pre-seed funding round of Qandle for USD $1.2 Mn.

    What is the tagline of Qandle?

    Qandle’s tagline is  – ” Smart HR for the Modern Workplace”

  • How does Pinterest makes money – Business & Revenue Model of Pinterest

    The social media sphere is quite growing with multiple social media platforms and their popularity. Among this sphere, lately, a San Francisco based Pinterest which is a CA tech company famous for its huge collection of photos for all occasions and styles.

    Pinterest is basically a pinboard-style photo-sharing platform. You can create your collection of photos and also, manage theme-based photos of events, hobbies and many others.

    Pinterest was founded in 2008 but went public through an initial public offering held in 2019. Through this, the stock trades on New York City exchange under the PINS symbol.

    Today, there are around 100 million active users of Pinterest with a reported value worth $11 billion. But, with the growing speed, the question arises how does Pinterest make money? This has been a question since the beginning of Pinterest. The Business model of Pinterest has been designed very strategically in order to capitalise on the networking effect.

    Pinterest launched its revenue model titled ‘the promoted pins’ in 2013 which is available in the beta stage. The revenue model of Pinterest is based on advertisement and has been growing more vigorously. In this article, we have discussed the business model and Revenue model of Pinterest. Stay tuned!

    Pinterest Business Model
    How does Pinterest make money?
    Revenue Monetisation Models of Pinterest
    Objectives of Monetisation Models
    How Pinterest is proven a better Social Network for Businesses?
    FAQ

    Pinterest Business Model

    Initially, Pinterest was based on a web social catalogue model. However, later the company recognized the advantages that come with a social media networking site which includes pinboards and pins. This would allow the user to choose their pin according to their interests.

    Therefore, now Pinterest holds all the possible options that come with a social media platform such as catalogue, E-Commerce, social networking features, and content facets.

    Similar to Facebook and Instagram revenue models, Pinterest has also developed its revenue model based on the advertisement, which brings benefits for the user while visiting the website. Pinterest holds all the capability and potential to gain its utmost success. Although it’s still awaiting utilising its total sources. But who knows, Pinterest could become the most successful social media site.

    As we discussed the strategic business model of Pinterest, let’s move towards how the company makes money.

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    How does Pinterest make money?

    When Pinterest was launched, it didn’t have any source of revenue. Later in 2013, it launched its new advanced feature – the promoted pins. This came out to be a huge success and a solid source of revenue.

    The promoted pins are the advertisements shaped in the form of pins on the search results, dashboard and other areas of Pinterest which are endorsed by some specified sponsor and can redirect to the sponsor’s website.

    Promoted Pins
    Promoted Pins

    The promoted pins feature is similar to the promoted content features available on other social media platforms. These are user-targeted. Hence, it benefits the user as well as the advertiser.

    The reach by the users depends on the bids made by the sponsor and the bids depends on the targeted user’s interests and other demographic facts.

    Revenue Monetisation Models of Pinterest

    Pinterest uses the widely preferred digital monetization models for better revenue return. These are:

    • Cost per Click (CPC)
    • Cost per thousand impressions (CPM)
    • Cost per View (CPV)
    • Cost per action (CPA)

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    Objectives of Monetisation Models

    The Monetisation Models are used according to the favourable campaigns. There are various Monetisation Models and each of them is applied to different advertising campaigns based on their objectives. Such as:

    • Video View
    • Conversion
    • Brand Awareness
    • Shopping Catalogue
    • App Install
    • Traffic

    According to the estimated data of 2019, two-third of the total revenue comes from performance advertisements. Each ad holds several prospects, some aimed for conversion of sales, signing up, app installation, trial or other discrete actions. Meanwhile, one-third of revenue is obtained from brand ads.

    How Pinterest is proven a better Social Network for Businesses?

    Pinterest holds a huge collection of theme-based catalogues that can be saved and used by users according to their preferences. This has created an opening for advertisers and marketers to promote their business.

    The other social media networks connect people on a global level but when it comes to Pinterest, it connects people to their interest-based content. That’s why Pinterest has a better click-through rate on various conversions and advertisements.

    Around the globe, tons of people are active users of Pinterest in the last 6 months, among which 96% use it for research and gain knowledge. 93% report that they prefer Pinterest for planning their finances and 87% use it as an engagement that helps them to decide what to purchase.

    Today, Pinterest is proven to be the fastest-growing platform through its complete member expansion. Social media such as Facebook and WhatsApp gathers only a single-digit growth rate, however, Pinterest has received more than 50% of growth rate.

    Conclusion

    Pinterest is a unique way to share photos. Photos sharing through social media has been a meteoric rise for the past decade. Pinterest has been proven a very exciting social media platform that monetizes its website by selling digital advertisements in a distinct targeted manner.

    Unlike Twitter and Facebook, it offers the user the opportunity and platform to plan their future projects. The user can browse abundances of fascinating and unique content based on new information. It is more of a search engine.

    The San Francisco based company allows users to share their photos and videos. Pinterest has obtained a very unique and strategic business model and in upcoming years, it is estimated to grow more heights of success.

    FAQ

    What is the annual revenue of Pinterest?

    The annual revenue of Pinterest was $1.6 billion in 2020.

    Who is the CEO of Pinterest?

    Ben Silbermann is the CEO of Pinterest who has a net worth of $1.5 billion.

    How does Pinterest make money?

    Pinterest’s primary source of revenue is promoted pins. These special pins are effectively advertisements, paid for by identified sponsors.

  • Here’s What You Need to Know About Bootstrapping Your Startup

    It’s common for startup entrepreneurs to raise capital through equity financing and, in some cases, debt financing. And it makes sense―especially for investor funding. Who wouldn’t want to partner with seasoned investors who fund their entrepreneurial endeavors, provide access to business contacts, and bring a wealth of business expertise and experience?

    The trajectory of venture capital has spiked with the increasing launch of new startups. And eventually, you’ll want this for your business. Depending on your circumstances, you may even need investor financing to continue operations. But before entrepreneurs can make it into an investor meeting, chances are they’re growing lean.

    Additionally, financing doesn’t come free. You’ll need to give away a portion of your startup’s equity, potentially lose control over your business, and deal with additional pressure from your investors’ performance requirements and expectations. And lastly, if you raise cash too soon, you run the risk of burning through it too quickly.

    Starting your own business is an exciting time. If your goal is to enjoy greater flexibility and have full control over your startup, bootstrapping may be a more viable option. Here’s what you need to know about successfully bootstrapping:

    What is Bootstrapping and Why Should You Consider It?

    You may know many successful entrepreneurs and business owners whose stories revolve around equity financing, but that’s certainly not the only way to achieve business growth and success. It’s possible to start, build, and grow your startup without outside investment. And that’s exactly what bootstrapping is all about; you rely on your own personal funds and business revenue to operate the startup and expand your operations.

    The money used to fund the business, in this case, could be from your savings, credit cards, personal income, or proceeds from your sales. You may even take some money from a few of your friends and family and use it to finance the startup. The idea here is to “pull yourself together by your bootstraps” and fuel business growth internally without outside financial support.

    Although it’s not an easy thing to do, it’s incredibly rewarding. First—and probably the biggest benefit for any entrepreneur—is that you get to own 100 percent of your business and maintain full control over your startup. You won’t have to worry about paying off loans, giving away equity, or satisfying shareholders’ and/or investors’ expectations.

    Second, when the startup grows and becomes profitable, you’ll feel a great sense of accomplishment. You can dictate the direction your startup takes because you’re the one behind the steering wheel. And what’s more fulfilling than having the ability to say, “I built it from the ground up.”

    There are many startups that chose to take this route and have achieved their desired growth and success. They include:

    • Zoho
    • BigCommerce
    • Basecamp
    • Shutterstock
    • BiggerPockets
    • Mailchimp
    • ClickFunnels
    • Tough Mudder
    • SparkFun Electronics
    • Mojang

    So, What Does it Take to Successfully Bootstrap Your Startup?

    Bootstrapping a startup isn’t as easy as most entrepreneurs think. The story of each of the aforementioned businesses involves innovative thinking, resilience, commitment, and smart decision-making. Therefore, you can’t rush into bootstrapping. Preparation is key. With that in mind, here are five tips to help you successfully bootstrap your startup.

    Create a Business Plan

    Just because you aren’t immediately rushing towards investors doesn’t mean you shouldn’t create a business plan. A business plan helps you outline your business goals, creates accountability within your company, highlights market data, sales trajectory, and much more. Lastly, if you eventually decide to move forward with funding, you’ll have a head start. Begin with a startup business plan template to commit your business mission and company offerings to paper.

    Choose the Right Co-Founder

    Self-financing a business doesn’t come with the networking opportunities, business support, and guidance that traditional investor funding offers. Plus, you’re likely to have limited resources during the early stages of launching your startup. This means you’ll have to put in extra effort and work harder to take your business to the next level as a solopreneur.

    Bringing a co-founder on board can make a major difference. First, you get to have someone with whom you can pull your resources together, increasing the funds available for starting and running the startup. Secondly, you’ll now have multiple perspectives on how to strategize and approach different issues that may arise.

    Finally, you’ll have someone to share the workload with, thereby lessening the burden over your shoulders and keeping your expenses low. Make sure you pick a cofounder who not only complements your skills but also one who’s diligent and committed to the success of your startup.

    Validate Your Startup Idea Before Building

    No matter how brilliant or revolutionary you believe your startup idea is, if you don’t take the time to analyze and examine whether it has a demonstrable target market, it’s unlikely your startup will survive. The last thing you should do is blindly invest your personal savings and limited resources in a business that lacks market research.

    Market validation offers proof that your idea or product offering will meet your market segment’s needs and your business will be profitable. Go the extra mile to produce measurable evidence that informs and justifies the financial commitment you’re about to make.

    Find Creative Ways to Cut Costs

    Just because you choose to bootstrap doesn’t mean you have to dump all your life savings, personal income, and business revenue into your startup ideas. Avoid making sloppy and risky moves when it comes to spending your money. The good news is that you can always study what other startups and companies are doing or have done to minimize their expenses.

    If possible, consider renting a co-working space to decrease your rent expenses. Only outsource or hire if you have too much on your plate, and consider outsourcing time-consuming operational tasks like list building and research. Buy used equipment when necessary, regularly review your operating expenses, and take a DIY approach to PR and marketing.

    Create a Business Model that Maximizes Your Cash Flows

    Ask any successful entrepreneur who self-funded their business and they’ll tell you one of the things they had to do is to keep their customer acquisition costs as low as possible. Keep this in mind as you create your business model. First, commit to providing your target customers with genuine value and exceptional customer service. Happy and satisfied customers will always talk and share their experiences with other customers. And that’s good for your business. Healthy cash flow is only possible when your startup’s operations run smoothly and efficiently, providing value to customers and ensuring their complete satisfaction.

    Nothing is Impossible to Learn

    Finally, the best thing you can do for yourself when bootstrapping your startup is to be open to learning new things. Don’t be quick to dismiss something simply because you think you don’t know how to do it. You’ll be surprised at the skills and knowledge you may end up gaining if you only took up new challenges every day. Nothing is too difficult to learn. So, if you’re looking to become successful in your bootstrapping journey, start learning—and keep learning every day.

    Author Bio

    Dave Lavinsky is an internationally renowned expert in the fields of business planning, capital raising, and new venture development. He is the co-founder of Growthink, a business plan consulting firm that offers industry-leading business plan writing services. Growthink has helped over 1 million companies develop business plans to start and grow their companies.