India’s biotechnology industry is moving towards new leaps and bounds keeping with the pace of global development. The main concentration of the biotech industry is biopharmaceuticals as India is one of the largest manufacturers of generic drugs.
Adar Poonawalla one of the leading businessmen of India and the chief executing officer at Serum Institute of India, the world’s largest vaccine manufacturing company has revolutionized the way of manufacturing drugs and vaccines. Adar Poonawalla is also a big philanthropist, recently featured in Forbes Asia’s heroes list.
The Bishop’s School(Pune), St. Edmund School And University of Westminister (London)
Title
CEO & Chairman of Serum Institute of India
Parents
Cyrus Poonawalla & Villoo Poonawalla
Spouse
Natasha Poonawalla
Net Worth
13.3 Billion USD
Personal Life of Adar Poonawalla
Adar Poonawalla was born in Pune and did his early schooling at the Bishop’s School in Pune. He was then sent to St. Edmunds School, Canterbury where he completed his higher secondary education. To complete his bachelor’s degree in polytechnic he went to the University of Westminster In London. Returning he joined his father’s company.
In 2005 he met Natasha Poonawalla at a New Year party which was hosted by Mr. Vijay Mallya in Goa. The two struck together and fell in love. The couple got married in 2006 and have two children Cyrus and Darius Poonawalla.
Adar Poonawalla with Natasha Poonawalla and his Children
Career of Adar Poonawalla
In 2001, when Adar Graduated from the University of Westminister, London he joined the Serum Institute of India. At that time his company was exporting its products to 35 countries, Adar having the vision to expand the company’s international market he focused upon the licensing of drugs and getting pre-qualified by the World Health Organization (WHO) to supply for United Nations Agencies including UNICEF and PAHO.
In 2011 Adar became the CEO of Serum Institute of India and with sheer will and to make a prominent position in the biopharmaceutical company he acquired Bilthoven Biochemicals, a Netherlands-based government vaccine manufacturing company. He also launched the oral polio vaccine which was the best seller of the company in 2014.
By his reach, he expanded his exports from 35 countries to 140 countries by 2015. Adar also included vaccines for Dengue, Flu, and cervical cancer in its company portfolio. He also acquired Praha Vaccine Limited in 2017.
Adar is not only a member of Serum Institute but also a board member of the GAVI alliance, which stands for the Global Vaccine Alliance. It was a big position to stand in such a short period. He is one of India’s leading and influential people.
About Serum Institute of India
Serum Institute of India is a biotech and biopharma firm. Founded by Mr. Cyrus Poonawalla in 1966 which now is the biggest vaccine manufacturing company in the world in terms of the number of doses. The Company was recognized after they began developing an Intranasal Swine Flu Vaccine in 2009.
The company initially faced many ups and downs but after working under the guidance of Adar Poonawalla company has been recognized all over the world. The products made here include the tuberculosis vaccine Tubervac (BCG), Poliovac for poliomyelitis, and other vaccinations for the childhood vaccination schedule.
Serum Institute is presently providing the Covid-19 vaccines all over the world with the name of Covisheild. It is reported that Serum Institute will provide 100 million doses of the vaccine to India and other low and Middle income developing countries.
Philanthropy work by Adar Poonawalla
Along with being a successful businessman, Adar Poonawalla has been a big philanthropist too. He is one of the leading philanthropists of Pune, also featured in the Forbes philanthropy list of Asia’s Heroes.
Adar established The Villoo Poonawalla Foundation in 2012 in memory of his mother. The main objective was to make top healthcare services affordable to help low-income families.
Along with healthcare, they focus on educational space by educating over 49,000 students through their elementary schools. The chairperson of Villoo Foundation is Natasha Poonawalla.
Adar being in the pharmacy industry knows the value of proper sanitization and cleanliness thus has a goal to enhance the overall quality of life. He has pledged INR 1.5 crores to clean up the Pune city with a fleet of 50 Garbage trucks and a crew of 70 people to complete the job.
Adar Poonawalla Clean city Movement
He has also installed water ATM’s in the city to provide safe drinking water. He donates approximately 20% of the wealth of his income to the Villoo Foundation and has a lot of fame in the Parsi Community for his philanthropy.
Awards & Recognition of Adar Poonawalla
2016: He was awarded the Philanthropist of the year by the GQ magazine.
2017: Humanitarian Endeavour Award in the Hall of Fame Awards and also Indian of the Year in CSR Business Category on CNN-News-18
2018: ET Edge Maharashtra Achievers Awards of Business Leader of the Year which was given by former CM Devendra Fadnavis. Also awarded with CNBC Asia’s award for Corporate Social Responsibility
2021: Entrepreneur of the Year by Economic Times for manufacturing of Covishield
Adar Poonawalla has been a very successful businessman and also a true achiever who is expanding his reach by pure talent and diligence. He has helped the nation to grow and worked towards the economic development of India. Being a drug maker and saving people’s lives with his medicines he is the actual vaccine prince of India.
FAQ
What is the net worth of Adar Poonawalla?
The net worth of Adar Poonawalla is $12 billion.
Who is the father of Adar Poonawalla?
Cyrus S. Poonawalla is the father of Adar Poonawalla.
What is the age of Adar Poonawalla?
Adar Poonawalla was born on 14 January 1981 and is 40 years old.
The Olympic Games are known as the foremost athletic competition in the world. Over the years, The Olympics have allowed athletes to show off their strength and skills. With more than 200 countries participating the multisport event will bring people together with a competitive spirit. This universal sports event takes place every four years, alternating every two years with the Summer and Winter Olympic Games.
Since the modern Olympics from 1896, two countries are chosen to host the Summer and Winter games through bidding. Hosting the Olympics is a big thing for every country as they receive worldwide attention from the presentation period until the sports event gets over. This time around Tokyo, Japan was given the privilege to be the host for the XXXII Summer Olympiad in 2020.
However, because of the Covid 19 Pandemic across the world, the Tokyo 2020 Olympics was postponed to be held from 23rd July to 8th August 2021. Japan is said to have spent an estimated $26 billion to host the 2020 Summer Olympics, this includes an additional $2.7 billion that the country spent on the losses due to the postponement.
A total of 11,500 athletes from 205 countries are expected to be competing, with the attendance of 79,000 overseas officials, journalists, and support staff for the 2020 Summer Olympics. The games will consist of 339 events in 33 different sports, which will be held in 42 venues across Japan. Four new sports are Karate, sports climbing, surfing, and skateboarding will be making their debuts at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
While games like Baseball and softball are part of the Olympics again for the first time since 2008. The tickets for the Olympics Opening Ceremony are estimated to cost between the range of $112 and $2,808, with over 4.5 million tickets being sold to Japanese residents. The Tokyo 2020 Olympics is also said to be the most sustainable Olympics as it has made many attempts to promote the recycling of waste.
For example, over 5000 medals were made of recycled mobile phones, while the podiums for the games were made from recycle plastic recovered from the oceans. The IOC (International Olympic Committee) is thought to make over 70% of its money from broadcasting rights and over 18% from sponsorship.
The IOC and the Olympics are funded by 4 main tiers of sponsors, which are the Worldwide Olympic Partners, Tokyo 2020 Olympic Gold Partners, Tokyo 2020 Olympic Official Partners, and Tokyo 2020 Olympic Official Supporters. Besides that, every participating country has its own sponsors and athletes also sign separate deals for themselves.
There are 14 Worldwide Olympic Partners that are locked into multi-year contracts, while the other lower-level sponsors are usually companies based in the host country which is Japan this time. Being a sponsor to the Olympics brings about a huge advantage in terms of marketing for these big companies.
The 14 main worldwide partners of Olympics (Coca-Cola, Airbnb, Alibaba, Atos, Bridgestone, Dow, GE, Intel, Omega, Panasonic, Procter and Gamble, Visa, Samsung, and Toyota) get their entire product categories to themselves. These companies usually take their products and staff to the Olympics and also launch massive multimedia marketing campaigns using the famous Olympic logo.
Depending on which of the four tiers the companies are in sponsoring in they will be allowed to use Tokyo 2020’s Olympic and Paralympic designations and imagery, including emblems, mascots, and slogans. According to media sources, The IOC had arranged over $2 billion from global sponsors for this quadrennium (four-year package for partnering), with the addition of $3.3 billion or so from the nearly 70 Japanese domestic sponsors.
Worldwide Olympic Partners
Coca- Cola
Coca-cola is a leading beverage company that manufactures carbonated soft drink that is sold in more than 200 countries and territories. According to Interbrand’s study on the “best global brand”, Coca-cola was ranked sixth most valuable brand in 2020. The beverage giant is known to sell over 1.8 billion company beverage servings each day.
Coca-Cola was the first commercial sponsor of the Olympic Games back in 1929 and has since then been an Olympic sponsor. The company has been the longest-standing partner of the Olympics and has sponsored every edition of the Olympic Games.
One of the most popular Coca-Cola x Olympic ad campaigns was in the Summer Olympics in Rio in 2016, where the company reached 500 million social media impressions for its #ThatsGold campaign.
Airbnb
Airbnb as in “Air Bed and Breakfast”, is an American company that provides an online marketplace for lodging, homestays for vacation rentals, and other tourism activities.Airbnb has its headquarters in San Francisco, California, and is a platform that lets property owners rent out their spaces to travelers looking for a place to stay.
The company was started in 2007 and has since then grown to 4 million hosts who have travelers in their homes. The company first partnered with the Olympics in 2019 and has since then allocated over 440 million of the overall sponsorship to direct support for athletes. The Airbnb partnership with the IOC and the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) is said to last for nine years which will include five Olympic and Paralympics.
Alibaba
Alibaba is a Chinese multinational conglomerate that specializes in the industries such as e-commerce, internet, retail, and technology. The company provides services like electronic payment, shopping search engines is acclaimed for its cloud computing services, and is the fifth largest AI Company. According to Forbes, Alibaba is among the ten most valuable corporations and the 31st largest company in the world in 2020.
Alibaba became an Olympics Worldwide partner in 2017 and has since then helped the IOC in transforming the Olympic Games for the digital era. The company has so far, come up with a suite of Cloud-based and AI-powered solutions that have made the digital transformation for the Olympic Games in a way that benefits fans, spectators, athletes, venues, and organizers.
Atos is a global leader in Information Technology services and consulting with headquarters in Bezons, France. The company has an annual revenue of around $12 billion with over 110,000 employees in 73 countries worldwide. Atos specializes in sectors such as transactional services, unified communications, cloud, High-Performance Computing, and Digital Workplace, big data, and cybersecurity services.
Atos has been a part of the Olympic movement since 1989 and became its worldwide partner in 2001 and has since then supported every Olympic Games.
As the IT partner of the games, the role of the company is to ensure the Olympic Games are fully connected, secure, and digitally enabled. Over the years, Atos has continuously used its cloud-based platform in order to increase efficiency, reduce costs, and most importantly minimize the environmental footprint of the Olympics and Paralympics.
Bridgestone
Bridgestone is the world’s largest tyres and rubber manufacturer with its headquarters in Tokyo, Japan. The company has over 144, 000 employees around the world and is available in 150 plus countries. Besides tyres, Bridgestone is also known to be an industry leader in a broad range of industrial products, building products and sporting goods.
As of 2018, the company has 181 production facilities in 24 countries. Bridgestone has been a worldwide partner to the Olympics in 2014, since then the company has provided its leading products and services such as tyres, automotive vehicle services, self-propelled bicycles, among others in support of the athletes and staging of the Olympic Games.
Dow
Dow is the third largest chemical producer in the world, with its headquarters in Michigan, US. The company operates in 113 manufacturing sites in 31 countries and has over 37,000 around the world. Dow specializes in producing Chemicals, raw materials, and compounds used across selected industries. The company became an Olympics worldwide partner in 2010.
The company has played an important part in improving the sustainability of the Olympic Games so far. The successful carbon mitigation programs implemented by the company and the Organizing Committees of the Olympic Winter Games Sochi in 2014 and the Olympic Games Rio in 2016, helped in mitigating harmful emissions and balancing the IOC’s footprint to create a positive carbon legacy worldwide.
GE or General Electric Company is an American conglomerate that is dedicated to innovating in the sectors of energy, health, transportation, aviation, power, renewable energy, digital industry, locomotives, finance, venture capital, and infrastructure. The company has its headquarters in New York, Boston and operates in over 100 countries with over 300,000 employees worldwide.
GE became an official Olympic worldwide partner in 2005. The company is known to closely work with the host countries for organizing committees that provide infrastructure solutions for Olympic venues including power, lighting, water treatment, and transportation. GE also supplies the host cities with diagnostic equipment and healthcare technology solutions that will help doctors treat athletes during the games.
Intel
Intel is another global leader in manufacturing essential products and technologies such as motherboard chipsets, integrated circuits, flash memory, graphics chips, embedded processors, among others. The company has its headquarters in Santa Clara, California, and has over 106,000 employees across its 600 facilities present in 63 countries.
Intel became the Olympics worldwide partner in 2017 and has since then played a vital role in advancing the Olympic Games experience for fans around the world with its innovative technology. The company has helped the games in the categories of 5G technology platforms, VR, 3D and AI platforms, sports performance platforms, drones, processors, and more.
Omega
Omega is a Swiss luxury watchmaker which has its headquarters in Bienne, Switzerland. Omega is a subsidiary of the Swiss Swatch Group. The company is known for its high precision and standard of precision and has a tradition of excellence in watchmaking.
This is why the company is the official timekeeper of the Olympic Games since 1932. The company is the worldwide Olympic partner up till the 2032 Olympic Games. Since 1932, Omega has served as the Official Timekeeper of the Olympic Games on 28 occasions.
Panasonic
Panasonic is a leading electronics company that has its headquarters in Osaka, Japan. The company offers a wide variety of services in categories of Audio, Television, Video equipment, including Car Navigation, and Multimedia Products. It manufactures products like rechargeable batteries, automotive and avionics systems, and industrial systems.
Panasonic has been a worldwide partner of Olympic since 1987. The company has so far provided the games with state-of-the-art digital audio and video equipment like a flat-screen TV, digital video camera, DVD recorder, and professional audio/video equipment. The company has been able to deliver the sights and sounds of the Olympics from the field to the spectators through its large on-site video screens and professional audio systems.
Procter & Gamble
Procter & Gamble also known as P&G is a multinational consumer goods company that has its headquarters based in Cincinnati, Ohio. The company offers a variety of different products such as personal health/consumer health, personal care, and hygiene products, beauty products, Grooming, Baby and family care products among others.
P&G has over 135,000 employees and is available in over 80 countries. Procter & Gamble has become a worldwide partner of Olympic in 2010, since then the company has helped the Olympics in the category of personal care and household products.
Samsung
Samsung is a Korean conglomerate with its headquarters in Samsung Town, Seoul. As of 2020, the company is known to have the 8th highest global brand value. It also is currently a leader in the industries of food processing, textiles, insurance, securities, and retail. Samsung is one of the top smartphone producers in the world. In 2016, the company shipped more than 306 million units of electronic gadgets worldwide.
The company has been a sponsor for the Olympics since the 1988 Seoul Olympics. Samsung has since then a meaningful connection through innovative technologies. For the last 30 years, Samsung has helped evolve the games in the categories of wireless communications equipment and computing equipment category.
Toyota
Toyota is one of the largest automobile manufacturers and had sold over 10 million vehicles in over170 countries. According to Forbes, Toyota is the 10th largest company in the world in terms of its gross revenue in 2019. The company has its headquarters in Aichi, Japan, and is known to have over 370,000 employees worldwide.
Toyota is the first-ever mobility worldwide partner for the Olympics in 2015. The company has helped the games in the sector of vehicles, mobility support robots, and mobility services. It also helps IOC in coming up with sustainable options for efficient mobility, intelligent transport systems, traffic systems, and vehicle-to-vehicle communications systems in host cities during the Olympics.
Visa
Visa is a world leader in digital payment and multinational financial service corporation that has its headquarters in Foster City, California. The company provides financial services like electronic fund transfer through credit cards, debit cards, and prepaid cards. Visa is one of the world’s most valuable companies as it provides payments for more than 3.5 billion cardholders in over 200 countries worldwide.
Visa is a worldwide partner of the Olympics since 1986. The company has helped the games by enhancing the payment experience for fans and athletes present at the Olympic venues. The company has the exclusive category of payment services, transaction security, and prepaid cards. Visa has continuously provided the company with the most technologically advanced payment systems available including new payment options.
Asahi group holdings are one of the top Japanese companies that manufacture beer, spirits, soft drinks, and food. The company has its headquarters in Sumida, Tokyo, and has 37% of the market share making it the fourth largest beer brewer in Japan. Asahi has been the gold partner of the Olympics since 2009 as it supported the Japanese Olympic team and athletes aiming to qualify for the games.
Asics
Asics is a Japanese conglomerate that manufactures sports equipment for various different sports. The company is known for its running shoes that have been ranked high among the top performance footwear in the market. Asics will be supporting Tokyo 2020 Olympics by sponsoring sportswear for the Japan Olympic and Paralympic Team and making uniforms for the staff and volunteers.
Canon
Canon is one of the top manufacturers of cameras in the world, with its headquarters in Tokyo, Japan. The company also makes optical, imaging, and industrial products, such as lenses, medical equipment, scanners, printers, etc. The company will be providing services to the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games with world-class services to sports journalists and photographers from all over the world for the sports event.
Eneos
Eneos Corporation also known as the Nippon Oil and Energy Corporation is a Japanese petroleum company. The company is the largest oil company in Japan and has recently been expanding its operations in other western countries. The company will support the Tokyo 2020 Olympics by supplying essential energy sources such as petroleum, gas, hydrogen, and electricity.
Tokio Marine & Nichido Fire Insurance
Commonly known as the Tokio Marine Nichido, the company is a property insurance subsidiary of Tokio Marine Holdings. With headquarters in Tokyo, Japan, it is also known to be thelargest non-mutual private insurance group in the country. The company will support the Tokyo 2020 Olympics by providing insurance, risk management, and offering insurance in their time of need.
Nissay is also known as Nippon Life Insurance is the largest Japanese life insurance company in terms of revenue. The company is said to be working together with the IOC and other stakeholders to utilize our national network to foster the movement throughout Japan especially during the Olympics.
NEC
NEC Corporation is one of the top IT and Electronic companies in Japan. With its headquarters in Tokyo, Japan, its IT and network solutions consists of Cloud computing, AI, IoT platform, and software. The company will be supporting the Tokyo 2020 Olympics with state-of-the-art public safety products and network products.
NTT
The Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation is known as NTT is known to be ranked 55th in the Fortune Global 500. With headquarters in Tokyo, Japan, the company is the fourth-largest telecommunications company in the world according to its gross revenue. NTT has taken up the responsibility to provide information and communications technologies for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.
Nomura
Nomura is a leading financial holding company in Japan. The company offers services of broker-dealer, banking, investment, financing, and other services to its customers. Nomura Holdings will support the Olympic and Paralympic Games Tokyo 2020 as the Gold Partner in the category of security.
Fujitsu is another IT and communications technology that has its headquarters in Tokyo, Japan. The company is the world’s fourth-largest IT service provider and has 132,138 plus employees in more than 180 countries. During the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, the company will help in connecting various ICT technologies and bringing about a safe, sound, and reliable sports event.
Mizuho
Mizuho is a Tokyo-based banking and holding company. Mizuho’s combined holdings are known to form the third-largest financial service group in Japan. The company has taken up many initiatives to promote innovation in the financial sector and to revitalize the Japanese economy so that the country is ready to welcome people for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.
SMBC
SMBC or Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation Group is another Japanese banking and financial services company that will be sponsoring the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. The group operates in the sectors like retail, corporate, and investment banking segments worldwide.
Mitsui Fudosan
Mitsui Fudosan is a leading real estate developer in Japan and one of the subsidiaries of the Mitsui Group. Commenting on sponsoring the Olympics the coming said that, it will show the world the charms of Japan, by developing attractive cities fit to welcome people from around the world, as part of the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.
Meiji
Meiji Holdings Company is a Japanese holding company, which is currently the fourth largest confectionery company in the world. The company has supported athletes in many ways since 1964 when they first offered products to Olympic athletes.
Lixil
Lixil Group Corporation is one of the top manufacturers of building materials and housing equipment, The company will support Tokyo 2020 Olympics in the category of Building Components and Bathroom and Kitchen Fixtures which will be useful especially for the Olympic village.
Ajinomoto is a leader of a global company that specializes in the business of food and amino acids. The company produces seasonings, cooking oils, frozen foods, beverages, sweeteners including pharmaceuticals. The company is available in 36 countries and has over 34,504 employees around the world.
Earth Corporation
Earth Corporation was founded in 1892 and is a pioneer in the field of household insecticides in Japan. The company manufacturer’s pharmaceuticals and produces quasi-drugs, medical tools, and more. The company is also into importing and exporting services.
EF Education First
EF Education First was founded in 1965 as a global educational institute offering groundbreaking educational programs. Ef is one of the well-known international education companies that offer language learning, cultural exchange, and academic programs around the world. The company provides cultural and language learning programs in over 116 countries with over 52,000 employees worldwide.
Airweave
Airweave is a total sleep solution company that is sponsoring the Tokyo 2020 Olympics with special portable products customized for Olympic athletes. The company is known for its wide range of products such as bed frames, mattresses, pillows and cushions, comforters, bed linens, covers, pillowcases, and sheets. Airweave is looking forwards to delivering the most comfortable sleeping environment for competing athletes at the games.
Kikkoman
Kikkoman is a world leader in manufacturing soy sauce, it began its operation in 17 and currently produces over 400 million liters of soy sauce every year. The company is available in over 100 countries and also makes food seasoning and flavoring, mirin, shōchū, and sake, juice, and other beverages including pharmaceuticals.
KNT CT is an integrated travel company group that has contributed to the organization of numerous sports events that have taken place in Japan. KNT-CT will be supporting the Tokyo 2020 Olympics in the category of Travel agency services and national trip hospitality services. It will also be plan spectators’ tours that will bring the excitement of the Olympics to as many domestic customers.
JTB
JTB Corporation is another Tokyo-based travel agency that will be sponsoring the Tokyo 220 Olympics. The company is known to be one of the largest travel agencies in the world as it specializes in the tourism sector.
Cisco Systems GK
Cisco Systems GK is a Japanese subsidiary of the Cisco system which is a world leader in IT. The company was founded in 1992 and is now sponsoring the Tokyo 2020 Olympics in the sector of Network equipment.
Secom
Secom is one of the top security companies in Japan and a pioneer in the industry. Secom has a history of being involved in many national programs, large-scale projects, and the provision of security services at major facilities and has extensive expertise and experience in implementing security systems. The company will provide security and other services at the Olympic Village for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.
ANA
ANA also known as All Nippon Airways is the largest airline in Japan in terms of its revenue and passengers. The company operates in both domestic and international destinations with more than 20,000 employees and 2.07 million passengers in 2010. The company will support the Tokyo 2020 Olympics in the category of Passenger Air Transportation Services.
Alsok was founded in 1965 and has operations in security for homes and buildings, and security for the secure transportation of physical cash for financial institutions. Alsok will be supporting the Tokyo 2020 Olympics with security and helping the athletes during the game.
DNP
DNP is also known as Dai Nippon Printing Co was established in 1876. It is a Japanese company known for its products and services in printing and information technology. The group has over the years expanded its business from magazines and books to the fields of packaging. The company will support the Tokyo 2020 Olympics in the category of Printing Services and will help the games with Games tickets, accreditation cards, and various communication materials.
Daiwa House
Daiwa House Industry is Japan’s largest homebuilder that specializes in prefabricated houses. The company has so far built factories, shopping centers, health care facilities, the management and operation of resort hotels, golf courses, and fitness clubs. It is also a well-known operator of freight logistics centers with more than 250 logistic companies.
Tokyo Gas
Tokyo Gas is the largest natural gas utility in Japan. The company has a history of more than 130 years and has so far constructed a network consisting of 60,000 km of pipelines that links more than 11 million customers in Tokyo. It is also the primary provider of natural gas in the main cities of Japan.
Tokyo Metro
Tokyo Metro is known to have an average daily ridership of 7.07 million passengers. It operates nine subway lines covering 195.1 km in central Tokyo seven of which offer through-services with lines operated by other railway companies. Tokyo Metro will support the Tokyo 2020 Olympics in the category of Passenger Rail Transportation Services.
Toto is a Japanese company that manufactures plumbing products, including ceramic sanitary ware, fittings for water faucets, bathtubs, and washbasins. The company is currently available in 18 countries and is known for its innovations in washrooms and toilets. The company will sponsor the Tokyo 2020 in the category of Bathroom and Kitchen Fixtures.
Tobu Top Tours
Tobu Top Tours Corporation is a Japanese travel agency with over 100 branches in japan and offices in London, Paris, New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Hawaii, Guam, Sydney, Gold Coast (Australia), Bangkok, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Beijing, and Singapore. The company will support the Tokyo 2020 Olympics in the category of travel and tourism.
Narita International Airport and Japan Airport Terminal Haneda
Narita International Airport is the secondary international airport in Japan, it is also the closest airport to cities like Narita, Kazaki, and Tomisato. The Haneda Airport is one of the two primary airports and the primary base of Japanese airlines like Japan Airlines, All Nippon Airways, Air Do, Skymark Airlines, Solaseed Air, and StarFlyer. Haneda was rated to be the 2nd Best Airport, World’s Cleanest, and Best Domestic Airport in the world by Skytrax.
Japan Post
Japan Post is among the top post, logistics, and Courier companies in Japan. It has its headquarters in Tokyo and is a subsidiary of Japan Post Holdings group.
Japan Airlines
Japan Airlines is the topmost Japanese airline with its headquarters in Tokyo, Japan. It operates in international and domestic passenger and cargo services to 220 destinations in 35 countries worldwide. The group is known to have a fleet of 279 aircraft.
Hisamitsu has been in the pharmaceutical industry since 1847 and is currently the leading pharmaceutical company in Japan. The company produces markets prescription, OTC products, and external pain-relieving products.
Mitsubishi Electric Corporation
Mitsubishi is a leading and pioneer electronics company with its headquarters in Tokyo, Japan. The company manufactures a wide variety of products such as include elevators and escalators, home appliances, automation systems for factories, train systems, electric motors, pumps, semiconductors, and satellites. It is the subsidiary of Mitsubishi which is a Major FMCG company.
Yamato
Yamato is one of the oldest transport companies in Japan with over 100 years of experience in the field. The company has over 4000 delivery points, 40,000 delivery vehicles, and 160,000 employees around the country. Yamato handles more than 1.6 billion packages every year.
Recruit
Recruit is a Japanese HR company that owns a search engine called Indeed. In 2016, the company had an overall sales of $17 billion with international sales contributing over 40% of the total revenue.
Manichi Shimbun and Asahi Shimbun
Mainichi Shimbun and Asahi Shimbun are two of the main national newspapers in Japan. Both the papers publish paperbacks, books, and other magazines, including weekly news magazines.
Aoki is a Japanese construction company that has constructed many buildings and hotels in Japan, Hong Kong, and Taiwan. The company will be sponsoring the Tokyo 2020 Olympics in the category of business and formal wear.
Aggreko
Aggreko is a world-leading provider of modular, mobile power, and heating and cooling. The company has a history of providing temporary electricity generators for global sporting events taking place in Japan. The company will also help the Tokyo 2020 Olympics in reducing greenhouse gas emissions and contribute to a sustainable society.
ECC
ECC is a company that provides educational activities since 1962. It also provides language training services and so will be the sponsor for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics in the category of Offline Language Training Services.
EY Japan
EY Japan is a leading multidisciplinary professional services organization that aims on building a better working world for its clients and communities. The company will sponsor the Tokyo 2020 Olympics in the category of Professional Services which will include Audit, finance, tax and project management, and management consulting.
Google
Google Japan GK has sponsored the Tokyo 2020 Olympics in the category of Internet-based information and navigation services. Google is a multinational tech conglomerate that provides internet-related services and products. Yoshiro Mori the president of the Tokyo 2020 Olympics said that they are delighted to welcome Google, a company that provides various services including internet search, online maps, and language translation, as an official supporter.
Tanaka is a world leader in manufacturing bonding wire and catalysts for PEM fuel cells. The company was founded in 1885 and is a subsidiary of Tanaka Kikinzoku Group.
Shimiza Corporation
Shimiza Corporation is a Japanese firm that specializes in architecture, civil engineering, and general contracting. The company is known to have annual sales of $15 billion and is also called the top 5 contractors in Japan and among the top 20 worldwide.
Tobu Tower Skytree
The Tobu Tower Skytree is the company that operates the Tokyo Skytree, which is a popular tourist destination and the world’s tallest freestanding tower, construction of which made full use of Japan’s most advanced building technologies. The tourist destination is located in Tokyo and many international and domestic tourists visit for the panorama of the city.
Technogym
Technogym is a Japanese company that manufactures and sells equipment and digital technologies for fitness, sport, and health. The company will sponsor the Tokyo 2020 Olympics in the category of Fitness Equipment. It will provide the games with numerous fitness and sports equipment for the athletes to practice.
Park24
Park24 is a Japanese multination corporation that operates 24-hour automated parking garages, monthly parking lots, and parking lot administration. It currently operates and manages more than 17,000 parking facilities in the country. The company is will sponsor the Tokyo 2020 Olympics in the category Parking Lot Services.
Pasona is a Japanese company that specializes in staffing services such as temporary staffing, recruiting, outplacement, and even outsourcing. The company has its headquarters in Tokyo and is the second-largest staffing company in Japan.
Marudai Food
Marudai Food is a Japanese food company that is known for manufacturing meat products and processed food product. The company will be providing the Tokyo 2020 Olympic with quality products such as Ham, Sausage, Bacon, Fish sausage, Kamaboko, Roasted pork, Sparerib, etc.
Yahoo! Japan Corporation
Yahoo! Japan Corporation is a Japanese internet company that was formed through a joint venture between the Japanese company Softbank and the American internet company Yahoo! The company’s web portal is the most visited website in Japan, and its internet services are mostly dominant in Japan. In 2021, the company was merged with Line Corporation.
Sankei Shimbun and Hokkaido Shimbun
Both Sankei Shimbun and Hokkaido Shimbun are among the top daily newspaper in Japan. Sankei Shinbun is the sixth-highest circulated newspaper in the country, while Hokkaido Shimbun is only circulated in the Hokkaido district.
NBC also called the National Broadcasting company is an American English language broadcast television and radio network that is owned by Comcast. The company has its headquarters in Rockefella Plaza, New York City, has 200 affiliations, and has 13 owned and operated stations throughout the country.
Nike
Nike is a leader and the world’s largest supplier of athletic shoes and apparel. Besides footwear and apparel, the company also makes and markets equipment and accessories. In 2020, the company’s overall revenue was estimated to be $29.6 billion. Nike is also ranked 89th in the fortune 500 lists of American companies in terms of gross revenue.
Hershey Company
Hershey is one of the largest chocolate manufacturers in the world with its headquarters in Hershey, Pennsylvania. The company is known for its baked goods like cookies and cakes and beverages like flavored milkshakes.
Ralph Lauren
Ralph Lauren is a popular fashion house that is known for its mid-range and luxury clothing. Besides clothing, the company also makes apparel, home, accessories, and fragrances. The company was first started by the fashion designer Ralph Lauren in 1967 and currently has its headquarters in New York City.
Mobile Premier League popularly known as MPL is India’s most popular & largest esports and mobile gaming platform. The company has so far made over 50 plus games which are available on both Apple and Android. It currently has more than 60 million users in India.
Herbalife Nutrition
Herbalife Nutrition is an upcoming company that manufactures and sells dietary supplements. The company has its headquarters in Los Angeles, California, and has over 8,900 employees worldwide. Herbalife Nutrition operates in over 94 countries and has more than 4.5 million distributors and members across the world.
JSW Group
JSW Group is a Mumbai-based multinational conglomerate that has a footprint in the industries of steel, energy, minerals, ports, infrastructure, and cement. The company is a subsidiary of OP Jindal Group and is in countries like India, America, South America, and Africa.
Adani Group
Adani Group is an Ahmedabad-based multinational conglomerate that was founded by Gautam Adani in 1988. The group has numerous businesses in the industries such as port management, electric power generation, renewable energy, mining, airport operations, natural gas, food processing, and infrastructure. The company is known to have annual revenue of $13 billion and is present in over 50 countries.
Speedo is a leading manufacturer of swimwear and swim-related accessories. The company has its headquarters in Nottingham, England. The company products used to be manufactured across Australia but not anymore. The company was brought by the Pentland Group for $170 million in 2020.
GoDaddy
GoDaddy is one of the best internet domain registrar and hosting company. The company has its headquarters based in Tempe, Arizona, and is currently also known for its advertising on TV and newspapers. As of 2020, GoDaddy has over 20 million customers and more than 7000 employees around the world.
Cadbury Australia
Cadbury is the second-largest confectionery brand in the world, as it is available in over 50 countries worldwide. Cadbury was brought by Mondelez International in 2010. The company has its headquarters in Uxbridge, London, and is known for its wide range of chocolate and dairy products.
Optus
Optus is a leading Australian company integrated communications that serves over 9.5 million customers every day. Optus is known for its services that include mobile, fixed, and IP telephony, business network services, fixed and wireless broadband, and satellite services.
Hanjin Travel agency is a subsidiary of the Hanjin group with experience of over 50 years in the industry. The Hajin Group is a Korean conglomerate that operates in air-land-sea transportation. There are 23 affiliated companies working under the group.
BBQ Chicken
BBQ Chicken started in 1995 and is currently the No. 1 food franchise brand in Korea. It has over 1000 outlets just in Korea and has also started the world’s first and only Chicken University in 2000. The company is also among the top 100 brands in South Korea.
Hyundai
Hyundai is a leading automotive manufacturer with its headquarters in Seoul, South Korea. The company was initially founded in 1967 and is currently operates the world’s largest integrated automobile manufacturing facility Ulsan. Hyundai has over 75,000 employees in over 193 countries worldwide.
Russia
Sberbank
Sberbank is a Russian banking and financial services company that has its headquarters based in Moscow, Russia. According to The Bankers Top 1000 World Banks ranking, Sberbank is the largest bank in Russia, third-largest in Europe, and 60th in the world.
Gazprom
Gazprom is an energy corporation with its headquarters based in Saint Peterburg, Russia. As of 2019, the company had an overall sale of $120 billion in 2019 and is the largest publicly-listed natural gas company in the world. According to Forbes Global 2000, Gazprom was ranked as the 32nd -largest public company in the world.
Purplebricks is a UK-based online estate agent, which was founded in 2012 by Micheal Bruce and Kenny Bruce. The company is UK’s fastest-growing estate agency as it offers smarter, more convenient, and cost-effective ways to buy or sell.
National Lottery
The National Lottery was established in 1994 in the United Kingdom and is operated by Camelot Group. The National Lottery is and regulated by the Gambling Commission and around 53% goes to the prize fund while the other 25% goes towards good causes.
Aldi
Aldi is one of the topmost supermarket chains in Europe. It has over 10,000 stores in more than 20 countries worldwide. The company was originally started by Karl and Theo Albrecht in 1946 and currently has a turnover of $59 billion.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does it cost to become an Olympic sponsor?
According to Quartz, sponsors currently pay up to $300 million per cycle or quadrennium which is a four-year package for partnering. Bridgestone and Panasonic are known to have paid $200 million to $250 million each to become global partners for four years. While Airbnb paid an estimated $500 million for an eight-year contract.
What impact does the Covid 19 pandemic have on sponsorship?
Because of the Covid 19 pandemic, the IOC has made a rule not allowing international fans to enter the city of the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo. Since the games were postponed, companies had to pay extra for sponsorship and this declined the value of sponsorship. Despite the tense economic situation, Japan’s domestic sponsors have also pledged their continued support for the Games.
What do sponsors get in return?
The sponsors and partners can use the Olympic logo of the rings the Olympic flame in their marketing activities. They can also use the designations and imagery, including emblems, mascots, and slogans depending on which tier of sponsors they are.
What is the four-tier of Olympic sponsorship?
The four tiers of Olympic sponsorship are the Worldwide Olympic Partners, Tokyo 2020 Olympic Gold Partners, Tokyo 2020 Olympic Official Partners, and Tokyo 2020 Olympic Official Supporters.
Who are the Worldwide Olympic Partners?
The Worldwide Olympic Partners are Coca-Cola, Airbnb, Alibaba, Atos, Bridgestone, Dow, GE, Intel, Omega, Panasonic, Procter & Gamble, Samsung, Toyota, and Visa.
Who are the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Official Partners?
The Tokyo 2020 Olympic Official Partners are Ajinomoto, Earth Corporation, Education First, Airweave, Kikkoman, KNT, JTB, Cisco, Secom, ANA, Alsok, DNP, Daiwa House, Tokyo Gas, Tokyo Metro, Toto, Tobu Top Tours, Toppan Narita Airport, Japan Post, Japan Airport Terminal Haneda, Japan Airlines, Hisamitsu, Mitsubishi Electric, Yamato, Recruit Holdings, The Japan News, The Asahi Shimbun, and Mainichi.
Who are the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Official Supporters?
The Tokyo 2020 Olympic Official Supporters are Aoki, Aggreko, ECC, EY Japan, Kadokawa, Google, Kokuyo, Shimizu Corporation, Tanaka Holdings, Technogym, Tobu Tower Skytree, Nomura, Park24, Pasona Group, Marudai Food, Morisawa, Yahoo Japan Corporation, The Sankei Shimbun, and The Hokkaido Shimbun Press.
When are the Tokyo 2020 Olympics taking place?
The Tokyo 2020 Olympics was postponed to be held from 23rd July to 8th August 2021.
The debt of the United States is the national debt that is controlled and acquired by the federal government of the U.S. to the Treasury security holders. According to the report by March 2021, the United States debt crossed over $28 trillion. This came to be so high that this was more than the economic production of the US calculated annually.
With the history of so many years, US debt has been increased by the slump that lowered the tax revenue. However, the Congress government has spent a lot more than this to facilitate the economy over time.
Besides, other services such as the Military have proven to be one of the biggest contributors who have been used for the benefits of medical care and others. And with the world pandemic in 2020-21, the spendings on the counterbalance of the situation has added more to the debt. But the good thing is, all this will be resolved once the pandemic ends.
Till then, other methods such as increasing taxes and a tight budget could help in reducing the debt. And this wide combination of budget growth, tax cutoff and recessions have brought the national debt-to-GDP ratio to a record level. But when there is a problem, to solve it, we have to face some consequences. And so the United States government would have to face the economic consequences.
In this article, we will discuss a case study on the U.S. debt and its GDP. Let’s get started.
The relation of the gross domestic production (GDP) with the national debt of the US has been rising since 2016. And the estimated data shows this would continue till 2026. The graph from 2016 to 2019 has been pretty high in the projection. By the record of 2019, the United States national debt was estimated to be around 108.19% of the GDP.
Total Public Debt as Percent of GDP
United States Finances
The national debt of the United States has had several ups and downs but since the 90s the graph has kept rising. And so as the public debt, which is known as the total money borrowed by the nation to facilitate and cover up the budget deficits. However, the monthly records of debt have been quite stable.
Even after the recession of 2008, the national debt of the United States has proven to be pretty steady and progressive. And the estimations have shown, it will keep rising in the upcoming years. Although the budget cuts and the lower employment opportunities have hurt the American economy, which is still recovering from such a crisis. Therefore, the national debt of the US, as well as the national debt of US per capita, has quadrupled since the last 1990s.
Besides the excessive progress, the national debt of the United States is still not counted among the top 10 highest national debt countries with relation to its GDP. However, countries such as Italy, Japan and Greece have far more figures than the US.
The ratio of debt to GDP
The Debt-to-GDP ratio of a country is calculated as the ratio between the country’s national debt and its Gross Domestic Production (GDP). This ratio measures the country’s currency and is calculated every year. When the Debt-to-GDP ratio comes low that shows that the country is sufficient enough for producing and selling different goods and services and it does not require any further debt for this purpose.
Moreover, many other factors such as wars, interest rates and recessions also affect the debt acquiring and borrowing rates and its choice to incur more debt. However, the countries with the high Debt-to-GDP ratio face different crisis and its recovery takes time. The Debt-to-GDP ratio impacts the country’s economic situation.
Soon after the revolutionary war of 1790, the united state government initiated its footsteps towards the debt. And after the 1790s, the debt has acted as the major help in times of war or economic recession for the U.S. government over centuries.
However in the period of deflation which is known for decreasing the debt size. But, actually, the real worth of debt is enhanced during this period. In the deflationary period, the money value is heightened while the access to loads of money becomes tougher.
According to the record of 2020, estimated by three Congressional Budget Office, the public debt was equal to 98.2% of the GDP. Later, it reached up to 99.4% and 105%. This was the peak of the debt-to-GDP percentage since 1946. In the 1970s, the debt faced several periods, and it stood stable.
But, from the beginning of the 1980s, the debt rose drastically. This was seen till the early 1990s, When the U.S. was under the presidency of Reagan and Bush. However, the ratio came down to 30.9% in 2001. But under the presidency of George W. Bush, it rose again.
Later, the U.S. faced several financial crisis and suffered the Great Depression period as well. This brought a major uprise in the debt percentage and during the presidency of Obama, the debt rose to 75.9% of GDP in 2008 and then, in his second term in 2016, it raised 73.3%.
America’s debt vs GDP
When a country’s debt is estimated it comes incredibly high. And in a country such as America, the value is quite large. However when the national debt is compared with the annual GDP, then only the financial deficits of a country could be measured.
The American debt went stable till 2007, but a drastic change was seen during the global financial crisis period. During this time in 2012, the debt rose to 95% of the GDP. After this, the debt kept on rising. And, during the pandemic of 2020 and 2022, the GDP percentage crossed over 100%.
The United States has faced such an economic situation before also in the 1970s. And, now with the debt of over $27 trillion which includes some mandatory spendings such as health care which requires around $2.7 trillion. The total revenue’s 50% comes from the income taxes of an individual.
The pandemic has made things more delicate and tough and until it is completely over, the economic crisis will continue along with the rising debt-to-GDP ratio. Well, in this article, we briefly discussed the American debt and its cooperation with the GDP.
FAQ
What is the current debt of United States?
The current U.S. debt is $23.3 trillions as of 2020.
Which country has no debt?
Brunei is one of the countries with the lowest debt. It has a debt to GDP ratio of 2.46 percent among a population of 439,000 people.
How much is the world in debt 2020?
The global debt total is at all-time high of $281 trillion by the end of 2020.
The tourism and hospitality industry were the most affected during the Coronavirus pandemic and is still said to have been reviving from it. Some of the 5-star hotels have been shut down as they did not have the revenue to pay the employees.
Carnival which is the world’s biggest cruise company has reported that their demand has been increasing. The company had sold around 19 ships during the pandemic and reduced its capacity to 13%. But now the company is planning to buy back the ship and increase it by around 2.5%. In this article let’s look at the reason for the increase in demand.
Carnival is the world’s biggest cruise company. The CEO of Carnival has conveyed that there is a huge demand for travel and the number of strips is outnumbered by the demand. The CEO of Carnival Corp has stated that the demand across its 9 cruise lines is rapidly increasing and added that the Americans are enthusiastic and eager to get back on the water.
Arnold Donald, the CEO of the world’s biggest cruise company has said that people are impatiently waiting to get back to cruise again. He added that the company has no issues in being able to fill the ships. People are ready to sail but the fact is that the company has far more demand compared to the ships that they have available right now to supply.
Reason Why demand for Ships Increased
The CEO has stated that the people are confident about the safety measures taken by cruises and even the vaccine roll out is being continued in the United States. The vaccine shots have acted as a huge game changer and according to Arnold Donald, the bookings were vigorous and the most highest in the history of the company.
People are ready and are spending a lot of money on board. Travelers are eager to spend their money on extra cash items such as Casinos, luxury meals, massages, etc.
Carnival CEO on the Rising Demand of Cruise bookings
Arnold Donald has said that during the second quarter of the company’s business update that was held on 24 June 2021, the company has conveyed that the booking volume of the cruises in the future was higher than the 1st quarter of up to more than 45%. He stated that the advance bookings for 2022 were way higher than 2019 due to the increased demand amongst the people.
While speaking about the Covid precautions taken on board the CEO of Carnival Corp has conveyed that some of the cruise lines of Carnival including Costa, have been sailing out of Europe during the Pandemic.
He added that most of the travelers were unvaccinated but the company had ensured that it took necessary precautions and followed the basic SOPs such as social distancing, wearing masks, periodical Covid tests and intense medical screenings.
The CEO added that the guest satisfaction scores were flying high as there were less than 50 cases of Covid positive reported out of around 400,000 guests that were onboard.
The company is expecting some unvaccinated people to be on board from the United States and also adds that these passengers and Travelers will have to take the necessary Covid measures which include wearing masks and periodic Covid tests.
Carnival CEO on Unvaccinated Passengers
The world’s biggest cruise and also the celebrity cruise had laid down new regulations that were subjected for the unvaccinated passengers. The passengers or travelers that haven’t taken the vaccination or did not want to show the proof of vaccination intake will have to go through certain onboard restrictions, additional costs and Covid tests. However, the company has conveyed that the passengers who are fully vaccinated would prevent from the risk of spreading the Covid-19.
The CEO conveyed that if the virus is on board, then there are chances that the passengers would catch it even though the company has put a lot of restrictions. However, he clarified it by adding that they can’t guarantee on not being a single case on board but the chances of an outbreak seem to be really low.
A fully vaccinated cruise, Royal Caribbean cruise that was sailing from the Bahamas has tested two positive cases of Covid-19 from two of the passengers on board. Both the passengers were under the age of 16 and were exempted from the vaccine mandate.
The company has a launched a new cruise which is the latest cruise. The cruise would set its sail on 31 July 2021 from Port Canaveral to Easter and the Western Caribbean. The cruise is the first in the world to have a roller-coaster on board and also the first cruise in the Northern America to be run on a liquefied natural gas.
Conclusion
The company is expected to sailing at least 52% of its capacity by the end of November and is expecting to have its entire fleet into operation by the spring of 2022.
FAQ
Has Carnival Cancelled any cruises?
Carnival Cruise Line cancelled some of its July 2021 cruises, but it will still sail some ships from the U.S. in July.
What is the Revenue of Carnival cruise?
The revenue of Carnival Cruise in 2020 was 559.5 crores USD.
What is Carnival Cruise net worth?
The net worth of Carnival in 2020 was US$−10.236 billion, as due to Covid restrictions the company faced a huge loss.
Cryptocurrencies have a separate fanbase that loves to mine, possess and trade in them. Ever since bitcoin, the open-source software, was released as the world’s first cryptocurrency, the era of this new form of digital currencies began.
The craze of cryptocurrencies is nothing new and is the drive that is increasing more than ever, pushing this generation of people towards possessing more of them. And why would it not be there?
Bitcoins and other cryptocurrencies have been well-known to offer healthy amounts of profits and with the adoption of these currencies as payment methods by organizations like Square (SQ), CashApp, Venmo, and the latest by PayPal, the cryptocurrencies are scaling new heights.
Furthermore, these currencies are also beginning to act like safe-haven assets.
Cryptocurrencies were relatively new in the past but with the turn of the last decade, they have been growing in popularity like never before in all the major countries of the world.
However, this new scam involving cryptocurrency in Africa is to put legions of people around the world in doubt where the founders of the African bitcoin investment and exchange company, Africrypt, vanish into thin air along with all their investors’ money!
What is Africrypt and How it Started?
Africrypt is an African cryptocurrency firm founded by Raees Cajee and Ameer Cajee. This company was established in 2019 by the two brothers, aged 20 and 17 years respectively, and aimed at providing bumper returns to their investors.
Soon after the company started its operations, it began to quote exceedingly profitable returns to its investors, which was allegedly at 10% per month. However, not a single person was to raise any questions with regards to the same until the case where the founders took flight occurred, to the shock of all of them.
With the New Year Came New Signs of Troubles
The investors were getting a palpable profit and that’s what helped them go further with Africrypt.
There wasn’t a single instance where they felt insecure even amidst the pandemic, until the month of April 2021, when the company’s CEO Ameer Cajee informed the clients that the company was struck by hackers.
He further implored them not to inform the lawyers and other legal authorities to take any steps because that would result in slowing down the recovery process of their money.
This aroused the suspicions of many of their investors, who immediately roped in the law firm, Hanekom Attorneys along with another group to start with the liquidation against Africrypt. However, the suspicions were only meant to stay.
Africrypt, which was otherwise deemed to be a profitable and reliable venture, revoked its employees‘ access to the back-end platforms. This added more panic to the anxiety that was already ripe and then, after seven days, it completely vanished untraceable along with bitcoins that are estimated to be worth around $3.6 billion.
What’s more shocking is that there is no single trace of the firm, its founders, and all the celebrity investors who were involved in it!
According to the recent Bloomberg report, any calls to Africrypt, where Ameer’s mobile number was on display, are being redirected to the voicemail service.
The value of the bitcoins saw a recent surge in the past year and with the loss of 69,000 coins through Africrypt, which would have amounted to 4 billion dollars in April, would represent a huge loss, and in fact, one of the biggest cryptocurrency scams in recent times.
Bitcoins and their traders are witnessing enormous losses and most of them in recent years are incidentally with the companies based out of South Africa. It was only in 2020 that the South African Bitcoin trading company, Mirror Trading International led to the loss of 23,000 cryptocurrencies, which amounted to around $1.2 billion and was reported as the biggest scam involving cryptocurrencies. However, with this latest Africrypt scam, losses are predicted to be three times as much.
Looking at the Latest Proceedings
Hanekom Attorneys, the Cape Town-based law firm that the investors approached fearing the hack, initially worked for the liquidation against the company. However, as the case took a new turn after the disappearance of the founders of Africrypt, they were unable to locate the brothers but have already informed other crypto exchanges requesting a quick revert in case they make any attempts to convert the digital coins.
Furthermore, Hanekom has further escalated the matter to the Hawks, an elite branch of the South African police force.
According to the reports, the coins with which the company has vanished were untraceable because Africrypt has already transferred its share of pooled funds to tumblers and mixers or other large pools of bitcoin.
While the founding brothers’ mobile phones and other numbers are being redirected to the voicemails, calls seem to be pouring in on the phone number of the cousin of the Cajee brothers, Zakira Laher, who was also a former fellow director of Africrypt. The investors, police as well as the media are seemingly calling her for updates regarding the scam.
Laher, who has a week-old baby at their residence, is scared of the situation that the brothers left their family in and is exceedingly worried about the safety of her family. Speaking about the position that she used to hold at Africrypt, Zakaria mentioned that her designation was peripheral and she didn’t gain anything out of the same.
Why is the Investigation of Cryptocurrencies Difficult?
Though the investigation is in progress, nothing is yet to come out that disclosed any whereabouts of the founders of Africrypt or the money lost. It is quite difficult to run an investigation involving cryptocurrencies even when it comes to a scam as colossal as the present case of Africrypt.
Brandon Topham, head of the Finance Sector Conduct Authority of South Africa said that the cryptocurrency assets are still not considered legal as financial products by the government, which is why they cannot launch a formal investigation for the same.
Conclusion
The cryptocurrency market has huge potential for the future, however, the road to success with these digital currencies is also fraught with frauds and losses. Besides, the latest rise in the prices of digital currencies ushered in a whole new world of risks.
With China announcing the latest ban on cryptocurrencies after their prices soared recently, it appears to be adding to the list of other countries like Bolivia, Algeria, Morocco, Saudi Arabia, making the future murkier for these currencies.
FAQ
Who are the founders of Africrypt?
Africrypt was founded by two brothers Raees Cajee and Ameer Cajee.
When was Africrypt founded?
Africrypt was founded in 2019 aimed at providing huge returns to their investors .
Did Africrypt founders left the company?
The founders of the company vanished with bitcoins that are estimated to be worth around $3.6 billion.
In this hour of need, startups have again risen to the occasion to help India cope with the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. From providing free vaccinations to imparting mental health sessions, Indian startups hasn’t left any stone unturned to help the country fight the Covid 19 pandemic. StartupTalky reached out to various startups to know how they are fighting the second wave of Covid 19 pandemic. Have a look!
Look at How these startups are helping the country to fight Covid-19:
Alserv – a tech start-up focused on non-real-estate-based assisted living services for the elderly has now launched “Alserv Care” for COVID-19 positive elderly individuals. This entails delivery of meals, grocery and medicine, facilitating services of nurses and caretakers, providing oxygen support and other medical equipment to the elderly (upon request).
Enabling quality care at home, Alserv provides these services starting at ₹300/month. The elderly can choose home cooked meals to be delivered at their residences from the variety of choices available. Alserv is delivering home-cooked meals through verified service providers who maintain the highest quality and hygiene standards.
For elderly who are living alone, Alserv is facilitating the services of nurses and caretakers who can stay at home with the elderly and take care of their needs. Speaking about the launch of Alserv Care, Jagadish Ramamoorthy, Co-founder & Director, Alserv, said – “Currently in our country, the hospitals do not have the sufficient number of beds to take care of COVID positive individuals. Also, we believe for the elderly, home care is critical in ensuring complete recovery from COVID. We are already receiving positive feedback regarding Alserv Care from our customers.”
To avail this new service from Alserv, users can download the Alserv app from PlayStore/AppStore or reach out to the helpline: +91-044-4666 4888.
The pandemic has increased the emphasis on the ‘human connect’ aspect of the HR function. Startups always run in a super dynamic and fast paced environment, and this element is even more prominent now for those operating in the healthcare sector. At StanPlus, we handhold our employees if they or anyone in their families are affected by Covid. Quarantine facilities and emergency services are provided at no cost. We ensure that our people on ground have sufficient supply of PPE kits and sanitizers always. Considering the industry StanPlus operates in, we realize the pressure and secondary trauma our people go through. Therefore we have taken away the concept of sick leaves. The employees have the liberty to take leaves whenever they feel overwhelmed. We are tackling these uncertain times as a family.
Spokesperson: Sudipta Sengupta, Founder & CEO, THIP Media
While there are a lot of efforts going into managing the pandemic, we are fighting the infodemic (fake news around COVID 19). Infodemic is a major problem even recognized by WHO. From falsifying treatments to creating Vaccine hesitancy – health misinformation and disinformation has major effects at multiple levels. We, as an IFCN certified Fact Checking organization, we weed out such messages from social media, fact check them along with doctors and medical professionals and publish in 7 different languages.
Rite KnowledgeLabs – Startups support during Covid 19
Mumbai-based startup Rite KnowledgeLabs has sanctioned an additional two days as vaccination leaves to all their employees, helping them to cope with the side effects of vaccinations, if any. The startup has provided a ‘no questions’ asked vaccination allowance to its employees, including their family members. The prolonging of the pandemic with a severe second wave has brought with it unique challenges.
At Rite KnowledgeLabs, we have always been proactive in our approach in enforcing the government regulatory directives from the onset of the pandemic and empowering employees to adapt to the ‘New normal’ way of working with a complete #wfh model. It has led to a series of infrastructural changes/support and social adjustments in the way we function.
Zaggle learnt about the challenges faced by Founders to access credit and especially in this pandemic where starts ups are shutting down or in a financial need, to meet their business expenses. This led the Foundation to ZikZuk a Financial Technology company that solves financial pain points of SMEs and Startups. It is a SME Neo Open Banking Platform with FoundersCard as its 1st Product. We want to create a platform for businesses to easily access financial services from different financial service providers. To avoid the hassle of different accounts, having cheque signed by authorities, going through RTGS, we thought this process should be automated through a platform to quickly flake in and move the funds to ensure that the cheque gets cleared without having to go through the process manually.
FoundersCard is a Corporate Credit Card targeted at Business Owners and Founders. It solves the credit problems, and provides an excellent customer experience by leveraging technology and providing easy access to capital. FoundersCard is a Single payment instrument which can be used to Optimize Working capital and Digitally manage all the expenses of a SME/Startup. The card will be available in different form factors such as virtual card, physical card, e-card, on mobile etc. that will be issued to Founders. The credit card will be available in the form of domestic pre-paid, forex pre-paid and corporate credit and various other benefits that really matter to the Founders of start-up companies. Other than that we have helped in distributing ample of Mask, PPE kits to Indian Police, Daily necessities in village around Hyderabad.
Founded in 2017 by Aneesh Nair, Divya Laroyia and Shyatto Rana, MyHealthcare is a digital healthcare platform launched to improve access to healthcare services by connecting hospitals, doctors, and patients online. It works in partnership with hospitals such as Fortis, BLK, and Nanavati for online doctor consultations.
Shyatto, CEO & Co-founder of MyHealthcare, said, “Our partner hospital and clinic doctors have used our digital EMR and virtual consult platform to connect with patients. This convenience has seen a great acceptance from patients, especially during the last few months.
To support patients and hospitals amid the second wave of covid which resulted in the acute shortage of hospital beds and other resources, we launched our speciality healthcare service called MyHealthcare@Home. It is for patients who are under home isolation. Connected with a hospital team that keeps track of the patient’s health and wellness, the command center of the platform allows the medical staff to track vitals, read patient notes, view medical history, prescribe medicines, alert hospitals among other services, all in real time.
The system offers the already overloaded medical professionals a convenience that saves time and equips them with data to provide quick assistance. Moreover, in an effort to further offer primary specialty care, MyHealthcare is providing air and ground medevac for emergencies. This service entails safely transporting a patient from their location to another city hospital, post the confirmation of admission.”
Integration Wizard Solutions extend its health, safety and security solutions to hospitals, retail stores, warehouses, ATMs, etc. Their client relations are built across continents with AWS, Microsoft, Xerox, Godrej, Heineken, Johnson Controls, Tata, etc. They encourage less human contact, better social distancing, and accurate monitoring of patients/ workers/ people/ businesses.
In the last few weeks, we have witnessed the entire country come together, pool in resources and fight the battle against COVID-19. At Cashfree, we wanted to use our technical know-how and existing infrastructure to create a product that will help those who are helping others. Through the release of ‘Payment Links for Donation’, we intend to make the process of collecting donations easier for those who do not have the technical infrastructure.
The pandemic is impacting everyone around the world and every aspect of our daily lives: our social interactions, our family lives, our communities, and, of course, how all of us work. It’s times like these that remind us that each of us has something to contribute and the importance of coming together as a community. We want our employees to know that we are prioritizing the health and safety of them as well as their families first and foremost. To help them weather the second wave of the coronavirus safely, we have announced initiatives to help the, cope with this struggle. This is why we have directed our efforts to not only help our employees, but also their family members so that they can recover well.
The Covid-19 pandemic has been emotionally challenging for many people, changing the day-to-day life of everyone involved in unprecedented ways. As the second wave of the pandemic continues throughout the country, companies are tasked with balancing the health and safety of their employees while continuing to keep them motivated. During this second wave, Furlenco has taken many steps to help its employees in managing through these tough times.
In continuous efforts to tackle pandemic challenges, Ajith Karimpana, Founder & CEO, Furlenco says, “As India struggles with the latest, brutal wave of COVID-19, we at Furlenco are committed to supporting employees, partners, customers, and friends in their efforts to stay safe. We recognize the importance of our delivery staff as Front Liners and are doing everything to ensure their safety, and that of the customers interacting with them.”
Acknowledging their role as front liners during the pandemic, Furlenco has further enhanced Product Sanitization and Packaging Processes to ensure the complete safety of their delivery executives, while caring more for the safety of both our customers and our delivery champs alike. From effective sanitization of furniture and appliances to thorough clean-up after every installation, Furlenco makes sure that safety measures including ensuring social distancing in warehouses, distribution of masks and sanitation of all warehouses are being thoroughly followed to ensure the safety of all.
During this second wave and lockdown, the Furlenco delivery champions are the heroes making sure that products are reaching customers directly in the safety of their homes. Furlenco’s primary focus has been on Vaccinating their Delivery Executives serving as the front line of the business, with the vaccination costs of all employees being 100% borne by the company. This is a major step for the organization in supporting the needs of their delivery partners, benefitting both these providers of essential services and society as a whole with a safer delivery network.
For those employees who have tested positive for the virus, Furlenco has established a Covid Task Force dedicated to closely helping them and their families with any assistance required be it need of medical assistance, medicines, plasma, oxygen cylinders, oximeters and tele-consultation. In the same spirit, their Buddy Programme ensures that each and every employee has a fellow Furlenco team member identified for support and assistance. From its front line delivery staff to company CEO and founder, Ajith Karimpana, every Furlenco employee is equally involved in the programme and has a part to play in supporting the team.
Additionally, advancements in technology and social media present many opportunities to keep people safe, informed, and connected during the second wave of Covid-19. Furlenco has leveraged its Social Media platforms and Internal Communications channels to create awareness for those in need and to broadcast messages regarding Covid-19 help and support.
The safety of everyone around us and their family is of utmost importance. At challenging times such as these it helps to remember that we all want the same thing: for the people we care about to stay healthy, the virus’ impact to diminish, for treatments to be developed and for life to return to normal. That shared sense of hope and purpose can encourage each of us during this difficult time and help us rally to meet the challenges we face. We thank every person at Furlenco for all they are doing to help not just Furlenco, but also the partners and customers who count on us and the communities that we call home. Together, we know we can meet these challenges.
We are trying to encourage startup founders and innovators in the community to contribute towards Covid relief-related initiatives. Our mentor network has stepped up to provide one-on-one strategic mentoring sessions to startup founders in the ecosystem who are contributing to Covid-relief causes. Donations pooled for covid-relief efforts will go a long way toward mobilizing funds and resources for obtaining necessary supplies and coordinating logistics. Any growth stage startup founder or early stage entrepreneur who provides valid proof of such donation is eligible for a venture development mentoring call with an industry expert on their startup company!
Vantage Fit
Startup
Vantage Fit
Founders
Anjan Pathak, Partha Neog
Founded
2011
Headquarters
New Delhi
Industry
Software
Spokesperson: Anjan Pathak, Co-founder & CTO, Vantage Fit
Vantage Fit – Startup helps during covid pandemic
Vantage Fit, an AI-Powered Corporate wellness solution, is devoted to creating awareness about employee health, but at the same time is also dedicated to helping employers, encouraging a healthy lifestyle amongst their employees, which is an integral part of tackling the Covid-19 related health and mental well-being. Vantage Fit, a flagship corporate wellness product of Vantage Circle, was created with the vision of bringing work and wellness together for a sustainable future.
Spokesperson: Amit Nigam, COO & Executive Director of BANKIT
Bankit – Startups support during Covid
Amidst the catastrophic second wave of the pandemic ravaging the country, India’s ongoing vaccination drive is now open for the 18-44 age group, albeit with the government mandating that there will be no walk-in vaccinations for this age group, and everyone must register on the CoWin app to book a slot. However, a large chunk of India’s population resides in the hinterlands, in remote areas with little to no access to technology. Besides, many may not be tech-savvy either, thereby needing a certain degree of handholding to complete the self-registration process and book a slot.
Against this backdrop, BANKIT, a Noida-based FinTech startup, through its DigiMitra outlets, is assisting India’s rural population in registering for getting inoculated faster through its portal. With the link of the CoWin self-registration portal in the BANKIT agent app and portal, BANKIT is committed to doing their bit to ensure that every citizen in the country get the vaccine at the earliest. People who are not digitally equipped or informed can go to the nearest BANKIT outlet and have them registered through the BANKIT app and portal. BANKIT has 60,000+ agent outlets spread across 8800 pin codes PAN India. Through this initiative, BANKIT aims to handhold over 2.2 million citizens across the country for COVID-19 vaccine registration from their outlets.
There is a huge digital divide between rural and urban India. Despite significant growth overall in terms of technology adoption, rural India is still not well equipped or skilled to use available digital sources. BANKIT has always been committed to bringing digital services to rural areas and helping the people utilize the same. Through this initiative, BANKIT will be including the vaccination link in its app and portal where our correspondents can help those in India’s hinterlands register them for booking appointments for getting inoculated. We hope the country soon recovers from the pandemic and bounces back to normalcy.
BANKIT agent outlets witness over 2 crore customers walking in each month to avail its wide range of banking and financial services.
Spokesperson: Nithya J Rao, Co-founder, Heart It Out
Heart It Out helps during covid 19
Heart It out is a mental health organisation. The pandemic has deeply affected the mental health of people. Heart It Out launched ‘Brief Relief’- a 24×7 Free chat service which provides an individual with immediate emotional support in a safe and non-judgemental environment. The helpline aims at de-stigmatising mental health and providing accessibility in eleven Indian languages.
Enduring these unprecedented times gets a lot easier when we connect, share and seek support from those walking the same path. Heart It Out has thus been conducting ‘Pandemic Peer Support Sessions’ to enable listening authentically to peers sharing their everyday experiences so we extend and receive support from one another. These sessions are open to all front line workers in various sectors like medicine, security and food delivery. Aside from these we also offer regular one-on-one psychotherapy, workshops and light hearted, fun events. We have served over 8000 people over the last year in various capacities.
With the second coronavirus wave disrupting the startup environment, AAIENA has been trying to help the retail vendors by harnessing technology. AAIENA, an Artificial Intelligence and Augmented Reality based body measurement sizing software, came up with virtual shops to provide retailers with a platform to carry on their business online. This helped them earn by creating their visibility amongst the target audience. Here, AAIENA also devised an alternative feature, trial and earn initiative, to help vendors earn even when they are unable to sell the product. The vendors are entitled to get 70% of revenue for getting the per trials which is safe & secure.
Lifelong India
Startup
Lifelong India
Headquarters
Gurgaon, Haryana
Industry
Consumer Durables, Home Appliances
Spokesperson: Bharat Kalia, Co-founder & CEO, Lifelong India.
Lifelong India fights Covid 19
In these unprecedented times, we have witnessed how the nation hascome together to bravely battle the pandemic. As a brand, we knew our efforts had to be two-fold, so we could help and ease the worries of both, our customers and our employees. We understood the importance of certain kitchen appliances, like gas stoves and mixer grinders, and how crucial they are for everyday use. When our customers requested support or service for these products, and we were unable to provide it due to strict lockdown restrictions within their district, we replaced the product for them through no-contact delivery. We ensured that our customers’ grievances were adequately and timely addressed. For our employees and their families, we opened up our call centre lines to verify any leads and availability of beds, injections, medicine and oxygen. When someone tested positive, they could focus on getting better without worrying about tracking leads. We supported our team further, by providing health insurance that included covid coverage.
Spokesperson: Bharti Singh, Sr Manager – People, Leverage Edu
Leverage Edu – Startups Fighting Covid 19
As things started to get bad last week, Akshay asked us to set up a small team to help internally. That very quickly scaled into we helping patients and their families across the country, bulking up the team, and being able to help more than 300 people already. Alongside, Akshay also recently announced free vaccines for all of our 200 employees & their families, & at the moment we are also working towards setting the logistics of it. It’s empowering to work in a missionary company, where the focus is on always doing the good, all else later.
Conclusion
These startups have proved that nothing is impossible! Even in this pandemic situation, individuals and groups are coming forward to help the humanity survive. It is this dedication, commitment and positivity that will help the country to fight the Covid. If you’re a startup that has joined the fight towards Covid 19, do contact us to get featured in the list.
India had been severely hit by the second wave of the coronavirus pandemic and the country saw a shortage in the availability of vaccines. Even though the country is slowly recovering from the second wave the vaccination in the country is still facing certain problems and the one of the most important problems is related to logistics and supply chain management.
The e-commerce giant, Flipkart has announced that they would deliver the vaccines in Telangana through drones. Let’s look at the further details of the drone delivery by Flipkart.
On 11 June 2021, the e-commerce giant of India, Flipkart had announced that it was going to test the drone delivery facility of the company by delivering vaccines in the state of Telangana. The company conveyed that it would use the learnings from its supply chain that is tech enabled in order to use drones for delivering vaccines and medical supplies in the state.
The company announced that it had partnered with the Government of Telangana to form an association in order to run the task of delivering the medical supplies and vaccines to the remote areas of the state using the drone technology.
Flipkart to join hands with Medicines from the sky project for Drone delivery of Vaccine
Flipkart has conveyed that they will conduct the pilot drone delivery of medical supplies under the Medicines from the sky project. It is a project which outlines the requirement for drone delivery and to assess the proposals which are created under the Healthnet Global Limited and the World Economic Forum.
The Government of Telangana has decided to work on this project and to implement it into the healthcare supply chain of the state in order to implement drones for reaching the most remote areas in Telangana.
Flipkart’s plan of Drone delivery of Vaccine
Flipkart had conveyed that it would use the knowledge that the company has gained from their tech enabled supply chain in order to deploy the drones and to provide health care supply chain support by delivering the medical supplies.
These are going to be supported by the technologies which the company has developed over the years such as geo-mapping, track and trace of location and routing of shipments.
Some of these technologies will also be used to deliver the vaccines and medical supplies to the most remote areas where the infrastructure of the road makes it impossible to deliver them. The company will use the technology to conduct Beyond Visual Line of Sight deliveries using the drone. It will make the deliveries really faster and will play a major role in vaccinating the remote areas.
Pranav Saxena who is the distinguished product manager of Flipkart conveyed that the Coronavirus pandemic and the situation has pushed the countries worldwide to adapt to rapid technologies and shift towards robust technologies by developing scalable products. The medicine of the sky project is considered to be a sign towards it.
He added that the step taken by Flipkart is a quick decision in order to make use of the cutting edge technology for the safety and the wellbeing of the people.
He also conveyed that the company was proud to partner with the Government of Telangana in leading the association by utilizing the companies subtle understanding of the supply chain and the technologies that are helping and supporting in the automated movement of the medical supplies in completing the emergency requirements of the citizens across the state.
The company conveyed that even during the disasters or any natural calamities they would deliver the medical supplies and the required products using the drone technology and this will set a place in the industry for providing the necessary products in the time of need.
Government of Telangana on Drone delivery of Vaccine
The Government of Telangana has always been a step ahead in utilizing the technology for improving the lives of citizens. The Telangana Government stated that introducing the drone technology for delivery of vaccines and medical supplies for the citizens in the remote areas is going to be the first ever introduction in the entire country and added that the Government is happy to have partnered with Flipkart towards this initiative.
Jayesh Ranjan who is the Principal Secretary from the Government of Telangana has conveyed that this initiative will go a long way in testing the best in class technologies and solutions in order to solve the future crisis that will be faced by the society.
Conclusion
The drone delivery is considered to be the most effective way to deliver vaccines and to solve the supply chain related problems faced by the country. India is one of the most populated country having a lot of population concentrated in the remote areas, this technology can be a solution for the major crisis faced by the country regarding vaccines if worked effectively.
FAQ
Is drone delivery legal in India?
Yes, Drone delivery is legal in India but the operations must be limited to visual line of sight and the drone must not carry any dangerous goods.
Where is Flipkart planning to deliver vaccines?
Flipkart is planning to conduct drone delivery of vaccines in Telangana and deliver medical supplies under the Medicines from the sky project.
How many vaccines are there for Covid-19 in India?
India has authorized three COVID-19 vaccines: Covaxin developed by Bharat Biotech, Covishield developed by Oxford/AstraZeneca, Sputnik V developed by the Gamaleya Research Institute of Epidemiology and Microbiology, Russia.
When situations turned worse for most of us due to the Covid-19, and all of us were restricted to our homes with few hopes of breaking the chains and going out, EaseMyTrip managed to sail past the hurdles and made their stock market debut on March 8, 2021.
The journey wasn’t an easy swim on calm waters though!
Covid-19 has turned the tables for all of us and on almost all occasions, it has been for the worse. The period of the pandemic has seen everything including layoffs, pay cuts, dissolution, and liquidation but in the midst of all these horrors, EaseMyTrip, led by the brothers, Nishant Pitti, Rikant Pitti, and Prashant Pitti, launched its Rs 510 crores initial public offering (IPO).
After the co-founders diluted their 25 percent stake, they were set to issue shares worth Rs 510 crore. The company stated they were oversubscribed by 159 times, which put forth a demand of around Rs 44,881 crore. The total valuation of the company stood at Rs 2,040 crore during the IPO, as per the reports.
Prashant Pitti, one of the co-founders of the company made it clear that EaseMyTrip has never been a company that heavily stressed on marketing. “The company was profitable and growing. It felt like a good fit for the IPO”, added Prashant.
Each share was sold at Rs 187 during the IPO, which is now trading at Rs 230. The shares of EaseMyTrip have thus generated around 23% profit for investors within just two months.
EaseMyTrip was successful in making a business of Rs 4,204 crores in the previous financial year. The EBITDA of the company for FY20, as per Prashant, was Rs 49.8 crores, and that for nine months of the financial year 2021 was around Rs 43.4 crores. It was towards the end of 2020, in the month of December that the company’s overall cash or cash equivalent raised to Rs 208 crores from Rs 148 crores in March 2020.
According to Prashant, the company has listed 17 percent of the share amount above the premium, which is still consistent.
Why was this feat hard for EaseMyTrip to achieve?
EaseMyTrip is a company that drives its sales through its wide range of travel booking services including flight booking, booking of hotels, and processing visas. For a company that is based on the travel and tourism industry, the coronavirus pandemic was surely an uphill journey more than ever. However, according to the company, they have been frugal, curtailed a lot of things, went wise with several others, and aimed for the bigger goal to pull off such a feat!
EaseMyTrip Profit
How did EaseMyTrip manage to achieve this feat?
The growth that EaseMyTrip showed during the pandemic might seem unprecedented to most of us but it is simply a result of a lengthy effort for days, months, and years.
EaseMyTrip made a breakthrough in the market
EaseMyTrip, the brainchild of the Pitti brothers was started by the idea of helping people go about their travel bookings seamlessly and bringing parity to the whole booking process.
Back in those days people exceedingly relied on the booking agents to make their booking possible, and ultimately ended up paying more to them. In one such flight booking made by the father of the co-founders, the Pitti brothers discovered that their father paid more to the agent than the actual prices online. This incident led to the launch of EaseMyTrip in 2008.
The Delhi-based online travel agency initially aimed to ensure that the travel agents would receive the same prices and commissions as they did from the other similar booking websites.
Furthermore, they also ensured that the customers would also stay in this loop and would receive the same prices from the booking agents. Moreover, the team also wanted to build a software as a service program that would serve as an easy-to-use webapp that would make travel bookings hassle-free.
While the travel booking agents initially had to pump in some money with each airline to avail of the bookings, they received only around 3-4% commission. However, EaseMyTrip, on the other hand, came up with the idea of letting the travel agents book for any airlines against an initial deposit of Rs 50,000 and allowed a 5% commission on the same. This helped them effectively reduce their capital expenses and increase their profit margins.
Bootstrapping their way forward
As soon as EaseMyTrip was launched, the founders decided to raise money to start with their company, however, the market was found unfavorable soon after that. EaseMyTrip focused on a B2B market, which was something unique in the market that was already full of B2C companies like MakeMyTrip and Cleartrip. This well made EaseMyTrip a competitor to the already established online travel companies and also left bootstrapping as the only option left.
EaseMyTrip bootstrapped their business success as a B2B company, and soon entered the B2C market offering the facility to avail their services without any convenience fees.
Countering the Covid-19-induced adversities
Though EaseMyTrip was a running business well before the pandemic struck the markets, waddling through the pandemic was difficult for any business, and EaseMyTrip was not an exception. However, the company had to win over the situation anyhow, which they managed with the help of some laudable efforts from their end.
Rising up to the dizzying demands
As soon as the lockdown was announced, the government decided to resort to extreme restrictions on traveling, including a dead stop of both the railways and domestic and international air travel.
This resulted in multiplied call volumes. EaseMyTrip also had to abide by the work from home culture and resorted to WhatsApp messages to tackle the overflow of calls, which were then responded to by the executives one by one.
This not only boosted the goodwill of the company during these testing times but also helped in keeping things on a budget.
Early refunds policy
Deeming that the people are scared as well as scattered all across the country, EaseMyTrip decided to refund the money of their customers on a priority basis, even before the airlines refunded them their money.
This immediate refund policy was something really unique and positive responses came pouring in from all around the world in favor of EaseMyTrip all around the social media platforms, which further increased their reputation and added to their credibility.
Wise advertisement campaigns
As soon as EaseMyTrip absorbed the positive vibes, they thought it fit to come up with a unique advertisement campaign on social media, titled “Saath Laakh Crore ka Kharcha”.
The sole motive of the advertisement was to share the message that the Indians spent around Rs 7 lakh crores annually for their vacation. Therefore, they can easily avail of their bookings via EaseMyTrip, which is a 100% Indian company with huge benefits.
For this advertisement, EaseMyTrip had to reach out to 5-6 celebrities but the responses that the company received were overwhelming!
Discounts were curtailed
After the lockdown was lifted for the air travel, EaseMyTrip soon found out the pulse of the customers and discovered that they weren’t much concerned about the discounts and were only looking to make their trips possible. Therefore, the company reduced their discounts and managed to draw in the one percent commission that they received after negotiating heavily with the airline companies.
No pay cut policy
Payment deductions were on a rise with the COVID-19 and are always silent blemishes to a company. Therefore, EaseMyTrip ensured that they would not adopt such practices even if they had to shed some of their total strength. They reduced the total number of employees from 450 to 370 in the first wave of the coronavirus spread but they haven’t opted for any further reductions or pay cuts since then.
The Future Ahead for EaseMyTrip
“People travel for work, leisure, and to meet extended family. All this has stopped now, but it will restart”, going by the words of Sreedhar Prasad, Advisor, Analyst, ex-KPMG, and ex-Kalaari Capital.
Conclusion
The travel and tourism industry happens to be one of the worst affected industries post-Covid. However, the industry would soon rise and will be among the first set of booming industries.
FAQ
Who is the Founder of EaseMyTrip?
Nishant Pitti is the founder and CEO of EaseMyTrip, the company commenced its operation in 2008.
Is EaseMyTrip profitable?
According to a Motilal Oswal, EaseMyTrip is the only OTA in India to have a good net profit margin over the last three years.
The article is contributed by S Shriram, Former VP Marketing and Sales, Levista Coffee.
I stayed home for 150 days straight from March 23, 2020, onwards, when the first one-day lockdown began followed by multiple lockdowns. It was the first time perhaps I stayed at home, ever since I joined LKG four decades back. During the five months, I was on WFH mode, a first for me in my retail career spanning 23 years before when I first scooped Ice-Cream at India’s second and Chennai’s first Baskin Robbins outlet in 1997.
All these years, I had a strong belief that Sales and Marketing professionals can simply not work from home, especially for this long. I was made to revise my thought process all these months even as we sold one more cup of coffee (or more) every hour, every day from April 2020 onwards until now. While thousands of people worldwide have been displaced or retrenched from their jobs, many have chosen alternate professions and have fared well, perhaps better than their previous jobs or businesses.
Our friendly neighbourhood grocer is one such example. Many others too, but what’s striking is the resilience with which these entrepreneurs have risen to the occasion and have not only served customers but also made money, well.
During Unlock 1.0, the Union Government laid down restrictions on shop opening times and the Kirana Shopkeepers took the opportunity on their head, something that established Modern Trade Retailers, as well as the cash-rich Online Retailers, couldn’t live up to. The Kirana opened her / his shop by 6 am every day rain or shine, served customers with glee until 11 am (and later up to 2 pm, followed by 6 pm and eventually till 8 pm) and in the meanwhile, managed their staff and family, store inventory, daily cash flows, spread positive word of mouth in the local community and experimented with the digital media – from sending WhatsApp Posters to taking orders through the same medium as well as instant home-delivery, especially for the comfort of the Elderly, sick patients and the physically challenged.
Coffee and Tea Vendors, on the other hand, saw this as a great opportunity. Those who ran petty shops ventured early in the day and served those who were working on the roads and streets while the more smart ones offered to sell add-ons to their customers as well as cater to those who were in the line of duty such as Conservancy workers, the Police Force and others.
All this time, while a section of people was complaining of job losses, another set of people started their Entrepreneurial journeys and the most fancied product category this time was health and hygiene. From liquid soaps to sanitisers, floor cleaners to disinfectants, there was a sudden rush in this category, especially and there was no stopping for their efforts as this market is about to explode sooner than later.
While FMCG giants like ITC, HUL among others launched revolutionary products in this segment, what took me by surprise was that the secondary, unorganized and unbranded market grew and expanded beyond seams.
Those who have never tried the concept of washing hands before a meal were washing hands (and all exposed parts to sun and air) multiple times every day. Similarly, the “Mask Movement” has gained unparalleled popularity and opportunity. I have seen so many roadside vendors who were earlier selling various products now focusing on this segment.
Coming to Coffee, we at Levista have appointed dozens of new Distributors during H1 FY 20-21 and all this is because we have seen a huge surge of coffee consumption at home. With a high prevalence of WFH or rather SAH – “Stay At Home”, it is but natural to witness consumers drink more hot beverages. And in the process, we have seen many of our partners double or treble business during this period. I reckon that we have just begun. The making of “Corona Millionaires” has only started now and we shall see results over the years.
The Covid cases in India has seen a surge due to the second wave in the country. Amidst the rise in cases and the shortage of vaccines certain Indian companies have announced that they would provide vaccination for their employees.
A handful of companies have also announced that they would provide the vaccination to the families of their employees as well as the third parties involved with the company’s day to day activities. Let’s look at the different companies who have announced that they would provide vaccines to the employees.
Wipro had announced that it would start its Covid vaccination drive for its employees in their Electronic city campus in Bangalore. A spokesperson of Wipro had conveyed that the company is taking all the measures in order to start vaccination camps in all their other branches in the country.
Sony India
Sony India had provided a policy for its employees which is a Mediclaim policy in order to cover the expenses for the Covid treatment of their employees at home. The company has announced that it is in the process of setting up vaccination camps for their employees.
Indian Bank Association
The Indian Bank Association had made an announcement conveying that the vaccination of the Bank employees should be given the top most priority. They added that around 10 lakh bank employees should be vaccinated immediately and the expenses should be reimbursed. But the association had left the decision towards the individual banks in regards to the vaccination.
Hindustan Uniliver
A HUL spokesperson had conveyed that the company is looking forward to vaccinate all its employees as government has given permission to provide vaccination for the individuals above the age of 18. However, the shortage in the availability of vaccines have been a setback.
Amitav Mukherji who is the HR head of ITC have conveyed that the managers have been designated by the company to conduct the vaccination drives across various locations in the country by tying up with healthcare facilities. ITC has also announced that they would provide the vaccination drive towards their service providers as well as their supply chain partners.
TCS and Infosys
TCS have announced that they are working on various types of models in order to conduct vaccination drives with direct partnership with their suppliers. In the same way the HR head of Infosys has conveyed that they are in discussions with the healthcare providers and vaccine suppliers.
Reliance Industries
Nita Ambani who is a non-executive director of Reliance Industries had conveyed in a letter to their employees that the company will provide vaccination for them as well as their family members. It is estimated that the company has a count of 2,00,000 people.
All India Petroleum Dealers Association (AIPDA)
Ajay Bansal who is the President of the association has conveyed that the vaccination of all the petrol pump attendants and staffs should be given the top most priority and that they should be considered as essential workers.
He has conveyed that the Government should ask the oil marketing companies or find some other mechanism to vaccinate them as they were considered as an essential worker during the lockdown and were not considered eligible to receive the vaccination jabs.
Share of People who received at least one does of vaccine
Indigo
Indigo has also announced that they would vaccinate their employees and their family members. The company has announced that they are working towards providing vaccinations in a phased manner so that their operations doesn’t get affected.
Capgemini
Capgemini had also announced that they would provide vaccinations to all their employees and also their dependents. The company has also tied up with wellness consultants in order to resolve the doubts and queries related to vaccination.
upGrad
upGrad had also announced that they would provide vaccination for its employees as well as their family members. The ed-tech company has announced that they would provide vaccines to full-time employees, interns, contract-based employees as well as their ex-employees.
Betterplace
Betterplace which is a tech-based company has announced that they would cover the full cost of the vaccination cost of their employees and their dependants. The company is also providing a day off for their employees on the day of their vaccination.
Atos which is an IT and a consulting firm has announced that it would cover the cost of the vaccination for its employees as well as their dependents under the medical insurance programme of the company. The company also conveyed that they would work together with local healthcare providers of the companies to implement the vaccination programme.
ICICI Bank
ICICI Bank has also announced that they would provide vaccination for their employees and their immediate family members. The bank has conveyed that it was a gesture of appreciation from the company towards its employees for dedicating their service during the tough times.
HDFC Bank
HDFC Bank has also announced that they would provide vaccinations for over 1 lakh employees and their family members. The bank has announced that they would reimburse the expenses for the mandated two doses of the vaccines.
Piramal Enterprises Limited
The company has announced that they would provide vaccines for their employees and their immediate family members and the choice of getting vaccinated is optional for their employees. They have set up a help desk across their offices for answering the queries of the employees.
FAQ
When did Covid vaccinations start in India?
16 march, 2021
How many Covid vaccines are produced daily in India?
This means, on a daily basis, 28.33 lakh doses of the COVID-19 vaccine are produced in the country.
Are Indian companies providing covid vaccine to its employees?
Yes, Many major companies in India are providing Covid vaccination for free to its employees.
Conclusion
However, these are the major companies that have announced to provide vaccinations to their employees. Almost all the companies have decided to provide free vaccination to all their employees, in which around 70% of the companies are offering it to the dependents of their employees as well.
