StartupTalky

Tag: 📝Interviews

  • CredAble CEO and Co-founder Nirav Choksi Shares Insights on Working Capital Management and Growth Strategies

    CredAble is a leading company that specializes in working capital management solutions for businesses. As a fintech firm, CredAble is dedicated to serving the working capital requirements of large, mid-sized, and emerging corporations, MSMEs, and financial institutions.

    Recently, we had the pleasure of interviewing Nirav Choksi, the CEO and co-founder of CredAble, to learn more about his company’s plans, challenges, and strategies. During our conversation, we explored how CredAble has adapted to changes in the working capital management industry and how they are leveraging technology to better serve its clients. Nirav also shared some insights into the company’s growth plans and how they aim to expand their customers and offerings in the future.

    Let’s take a look at Nirav’s responses and see what we can learn from our conversation.

    StartupTalky: Mr. Nirav, what does CredAble do? What was the motivation/vision with which you started?

    Nirav: CredAble is an award-winning AI-powered technology company that is entirely focused on solving the working capital financing challenges of enterprise ecosystems and SMEs. We do this through our working capital financing & SaaS solutions across ecosystems using state-of-the-art technology platforms, deep ERP, and bank integrations.

    Eco-systems we cater to include:

    • Enterprise: We enable liquidity for vendor/customer ecosystems of Enterprise clients through the CredAble Working Capital Platform.
    • Financial Institutions: API-based co-branded, white-labelled working capital platform, and embedded credit solutions for financial institutions and their customers.
    • Small Businesses: We provide an all-in-one credit, trade, and cash management platform for small businesses to manage and grow their business.
    • Trade: We intermediate supply chains within the ecosystem creating liquidity and enabling better working capital cycles.

    At the genesis of it all, CredAble was built with the single vision to revolutionize the world of working capital financing. We set out on this journey with ground-level experience of the significant struggles that businesses face in managing working capital. We understand the pain points of businesses in accessing timely credit and managing their finances, like no other.

    CredAble is centered around digitizing working capital accessibility entirely, to help businesses of all sizes meet their goals and achieve forecasted growth.

    We are on a mission to build scalable products that will transform working capital and financial management for the better and guarantee business growth. In the last few years, we have carved out a space for ourselves on the world stage by focusing on holistic financial inclusion. By leveraging our extensive domain skills, trade finance expertise, key partnerships, and a world-class technology platform, we have been providing innovative working capital and liquidity programs for enterprise supply chains.

    StartupTalky: What is/are the USP/s of your products?

    Nirav: CredAble is the only player in the market with a 360° tech-enabled working capital product suite for all stakeholders involved. CredAble has managed to build scalable products that will transform working capital and financial management for large enterprises, small and medium businesses, and financial institutions and guarantee business growth.

    • For Enterprises: We are uniquely positioned to provide solutions across the entire working capital cycle i.e. procurement and receivables.
    • For MSMEs: We are a one-stop solution for AR/AP Management, business intelligence, and working capital financing.
    • For Banks: We provide a tech suite that helps banks automate and digitize processes right from KYC and onboarding to disbursements of working capital.

    StartupTalky: How has the working capital management industry changed in recent years and how has CredAble adapted to these changes?

    Nirav: The working capital industry, in recent years, has witnessed a massive boost thanks to the timely government initiatives aimed at making affordable working capital easily accessible to MSMEs.

    Some of the key initiatives in recent times are:

    • OCEN (Open Credit Enablement Network): To standardize the loan journeys across Financial Institutions and marketplaces
    • Account Aggregator Network: To provide individuals with greater access and control over their financial records
    • ONDC (Open Network for Digital Commerce): To standardize operations like cataloguing, inventory management, order management, and order fulfillment

    In line with these government objectives, CredAble has built technologies for better implementation of initiatives. For OCEN, CredAble acts as an LSP and based on the new lending protocol infrastructure enables the digital origination, underwriting, and servicing process of loans. With ONDC, CredAble is defining a protocol over which SMEs can avail of quick financing over the ONDC network. This will help the SME in discovering the right credit product for themselves and availing the same through a completely digital process.

    Nirav:

    • Reading and absorbing content from some of the leading journals, like Harvard Business Review
    • Interacting with industry peers and thought leaders at business conferences and events
    • Keeping a close watch on government initiatives and implementations

    StartupTalky: What key metrics do you track to check the company’s growth and performance?

    Nirav: The key metrics vary from business to business. We track metrics across functions; some of the important ones are tied to our enterprise business.

    For the enterprise business, we monitor the invoice flows (value and volume wise) on the platform at a daily frequency. Additionally, we track client conversations on an ongoing, newly added, and closed basis every week. This is done for the number of vendors and dealers being added at a mandate level and overall business level. On the embedded credit front, we track ecosystems that we have advanced discussions with for the white label of our platform. On the cross-sell side, where CredAble finances through its own book—we track growth in AUM, interest and fee charges and debt raises. Lastly, on the BaaS side, we track new, advanced, and live clients weekly.

    StartupTalky: What were the most significant challenges your company faced in the past year and how did you overcome them?

    Nirav: Despite the turbulent times that we are up against, we did not get weighed down by the storm. We have stayed true to our fundamental value system that has been paramount in building highly productive and successful teams across our functions be it product, tech, sales, support, marketing, or human resource.

    We have had to tread new frontiers and increase our operational intensity with the introduction of new regulatory guidelines for Fintech companies. This has, in turn, helped in ensuring a regulated growth of better credit products in the market.

    We have experienced and successfully overcome many challenging situations such as the funding winter, by coming together as a team, intensifying our investments in transformative technologies, and implementing agile methodologies. All this has helped us accelerate our momentum and make remarkable strides forward to ensure that CredAble remains at the forefront of shaping the future of working capital management.

    StartupTalky: What are the different strategies you use for marketing? Tell us about any growth hack which you pulled off.

    Nirav: For marketing, due to the plethora of products that we have as well as long lead nurturing periods—our focus for marketing is bifurcated into two core aspects, which are content and brand marketing as well as lifecycle marketing. The ‘business as usual’ activities such as paid ads, etc. keep running through and through.

    In terms of content and brand, our focus lies on content gaps that competitors seldom explore with off-beat topics and further aligning that with working capital financing. We have grouped working capital and done an in-depth analysis of NEOM, ISRO, Reliance Petroleum, Whisky Production and to the extent, even the Taliban.

    These research pieces are pushing us up on our social visibility as well as through our growing readership, we’re getting the brand name shared and known to a great extent. We do not hard sell our products in content marketing to help readers gain value from our content.

    We have employed extensive lifecycle marketing initiatives as well. Our core focus here is to nurture the user from the minute they become a contact, all the way till we reactivate them when they become dormant. At each stage of the user journey as well as lifecycle, we have tailored communication to either keep a lead hot, nurture cold leads, cross-sell products, activate dormant customers, and a lot more.

    StartupTalky: What are the important tools and software you use to run your business smoothly?

    Nirav: As a technology company, we leverage multiple different tools and software to ensure our products remain state-of-the-art. Some of the tools we deploy are as follows:

    Area of Deployment Tools
    Customer analytics and lifecycle management solutions to improve customer engagement Mixpanel, WebEngage, Firebase, Google Analytics
    Business analytics solutions to provide our customers with dynamic business intelligence solutions Metabase & Knowage
    Open source programming stack used for building our software products without having any specific vendor lock-in Java, Angular, React Native, MySql
    Customer identity and financial information verification solutions Several integrations such as NSDL, GST service providers, Hunter, CIBIL, Experian, MCA, etc. to provide digital-first solutions to fetch customer information faster
    Application and infrastructure monitoring solution New relic, Elastic Logstash Kibana (ELK)

    StartupTalky: What opportunities do you see for future growth in the working capital management industry in India and the world? What kind of difference in market behavior have you seen within states in India?

    Nirav: Recently, there has been a significant push from the Government towards MSME growth and funding aid. In light of that, we see future growth coming from embedded finance platforms providing integrated offerings to MSMEs including access to financing.

    Platforms that provide MSMEs with growth tools such as PAN/GST verification, AR/AP management software, business intelligence tools, and integrated payment solutions will see a huge upside in terms of growth and innovation.

    Furthermore, an integrated payments platform offering a powerful collection engine to collect payments & enable payouts, digital e-invoice generation, payment reminders, and automated reconciliation will see a significant uptick.

    Lastly, with the Indian economy poised for growth, working capital financing is an untapped market with a huge upside. Over the next 5-10 years, the need for working capital is only likely to grow and as a result, the technologies to support such growth will see a rise in terms of players, products, and offerings.

    StartupTalky: What lessons did your team learn in the past year and how will these inform your future plans and strategies?

    Nirav: 2022 did not come without its challenges to overcome, but our penchant for hard work and unparalleled commitment have helped CredAble in making a mark on the global stage. The last year was exceptional for us in all aspects of our business.

    In times like these, where we are witnessing an unprecedented economic slowdown and the talks of a global recession are gathering steam—we have learned that business continuity is key.

    We are focusing on critical areas such as ensuring strategic customer alignment, building revenue-focused teams, accelerating digital transformation, and expediting innovation to keep up with changing market conditions.

    StartupTalky: How do you plan to expand the customers, product, and team base in the future?

    Nirav: We have realized that success comes by recognizing key opportunities to serve an untapped segment of the market. We have re-aligned our teams and have mapped roles to achieve greater efficiency and we are well-positioned for the long-term win. Our teams have been pivotal in helping CredAble not only remain resilient and maintain our steady success rate but raise it to even greater heights in recent times.

    While we have a strong pipeline, we’re gearing up to seize future growth opportunities and expand our global footprint by playing to our strengths and setting clear priorities to redefine the working capital landscape. Backed by a growing customer base, key global partnerships, and a customer-focused organization, we are all set to take on the new year with sharper focus and greater zeal.

    StartupTalky: One tip that you would like to share with people reading this article who want to get into entrepreneurship?

    Nirav: We often tend to romanticize the idea of launching a tech startup. Building CredAble has been a long and arduous journey marked by a steep learning curve. That said, it has been rewarding in every way.

    Hiring the right people with strong skill sets is crucial to smoothly navigate the ups and downs of the journey. Cultivating a thriving culture will help you stay on the right course and achieve benchmark goals. Additionally, while success does favor those that can come up with an innovative idea—in today’s competitive market, it takes more than just having a great idea. It’s imperative to build a shared vision, where everyone on the team is working towards putting that winning idea into action. Never stop innovating—the goal is to always treat customers to superior digital experiences. Your offerings need to constantly evolve alongside shifting market demand and advancements in technology.

  • LetsDressUp’s Co-founder, Drishti Anand, Shares Insights on Revolutionizing the Fashion Industry With Size-Inclusive Apparel

    The fashion industry is an ever-evolving industry. It is a dynamic field that involves various kinds of businesses, including fashion stores, fashion styling services, apparel designing and manufacturing, and more. With the introduction of eCommerce and the increased use of social media, the sector has undergone a significant transition in recent years. People are now more aware and conscious of their clothing choices than ever before. One such company that is capitalizing on this transition is LetsDressUp (LDU).

    LetsDressUp is a company that creates outfits designed to fit each individual’s unique personality and style. With a wide range of options, LetsDressUp ensures that everyone can find their perfect look, no matter their size or shape.

    In a recent interview with Dr. Drishti Anand, co-founder of LetsDressUp, we gained valuable insights into the company’s mission, challenges, and strategies.

    Let’s take a closer look at Drishti’s responses and see what we can learn from our conversation.

    StartupTalky: What products does your company sell? What was the motivation/vision with which you started?

    Drishti: LetsDressUp (LDU) is India’s most size-inclusive and customer-centric brand disrupting India’s over $100 billion fashion industry. The brand has deployed cutting-edge technology to craft clothes that offer a size range of XS to 8XL, unmatched by even the biggest brands in the country. It is India’s first company to develop an Indian size chart by measuring more than 2,500 Indian women in real time.

    As a woman, I have been fashion-conscious and deeply understand the confidence and positivity a woman can get when she dresses up well. However, finding the best size and style fit is extremely difficult in the conventional market. The challenges become more daunting with age and changes in body type. After consulting with my family, friends, and more than 2,000 women, I developed a detailed understanding of their challenges. As I and my co-founder and husband, Aditya Balani, discussed and researched the subject, we discovered that two out of three Indians remain dissatisfied with the clothes they buy, and 30-40% of clothes purchased online are returned as they didn’t meet the size and style expectations of the buyers. To solve these challenges and create a brand that would transform the market, we launched LetsDressUp.

    StartupTalky: What other products/features have been added in the past year? What is/are the USP/s of your products?

    Drishti: LDU is unlike any other fashion brand operating in India. We are the first Indian tech-driven fashion brand to create a constantly evolving Indian size chart based on real-time data gathered from our users. The brand is also the most size-inclusive fashion label, with sizes ranging from XS to 8XL. LDU also has the lowest return rate in the industry, which is less than 3% and is 10x better than the average industry range of 30% to 40% returns. Also, our design-to-execution cycle is 7-10 days.

    LetsDressUp works on a zero-dead inventory model. We only create styles that the consumers are looking for, and this is done by leveraging data and technology.

    StartupTalky: How has the fashion industry changed in recent years, and how has LetsDressUp adapted to these changes?

    Drishti: The fashion industry is one of the most dynamic sectors, and the trends and customer expectations change faster than even the time some leading brands take to create a new collection. That’s where it is extremely difficult to stay in sync with the latest trends and consistently create clothes that your audience loves to buy. We have adopted a dynamic technology-driven design and production process wherein we don’t maintain huge inventories. The design execution cycle has been reduced to less than a week. It is a drastic change compared to the industry average of 3-4 months for the same.

    As a result, we can quickly produce the most trending designs and ensure absolute fit for Indian women by offering them the clothing as per the Indian size chart. Thus, all the clothes we create are consistently optimized to meet the style and size expectations of the customers. This is one of the reasons that LDU has grown meteorically within a short period and is now aiming to become one of the leading players in the market.

    Drishti: LDU is a 360-degree digital brand. LDU leverages technology to gather first-party data and third-party data like web searches, Google trends, social listening, etc. This data is used to identify the prevailing design trends and user expectations. The information is then used to create digital designs which the users engage with. Once the popular designs are finalized, we move to production in small batches.

    StartupTalky: What key metrics do you track to check your company’s growth and performance?

    Drishti: We are happy with our numbers, but we endeavor to better them. We evaluate ourselves on the parameters of Net Promoter Score (NPS), Month-on-Month (MOM) growth, and gross margins that we have earned. So, if we look at these numbers, our NPS is greater than 50, MOM growth is 50-60%, and Gross margins are ~75%.

    StartupTalky: What were the most significant challenges that LetsDressUp faced in the past year, and how did you overcome them?

    Drishti: Fashion is a highly competitive and volatile segment. We decided to pivot to an asset-light model around six months back. Processes such as design and marketing were digitized, and the supply chain was expanded. These moves boosted the brand’s production capacity. LDU went from INR 1Cr to INR 10Cr annualized revenue within six months.

    StartupTalky: Repeat purchases are one of the essential parameters on which most e-commerce brands are betting. How do you keep your customers engaged to stop churn?

    Drishti: We keep our customers engaged through several ways, like gamifying the purchase experience when they visit our portal. Some interesting offers and schemes have enticed them to come back to us. Also, we have something called Blockbuster Friday, where we launch new styles or designs. So, every Friday, there is something new to look forward to. While most of the fashion brands launch collections 2-3 times a year, LDU does it every week, which keeps the customers coming back. Our repeat rates are 25-30% and are expected to reach 30-40% in the near future.

    StartupTalky: What are the different strategies you use for marketing? Tell us about any growth hacks you pulled off.

    Drishti: We use conversational marketing with content creation at the center of it.

    StartupTalky: What are the important tools and software you use to run LetsDressUp smoothly?

    Drishti: We use various project management tools like Slack and Asana, and Shopify is a robust tool for our website.

    StartupTalky: What opportunities do you see for future growth in the fashion industry in India and the world? What kind of difference in market behavior have you seen within states in India?

    Drishti: Consumers are more aware than before. They know what they want, and they ask for it. India as a market has huge potential, and we are all in for an exciting ride. We will see a huge surge in growth, and as markets pick up, things will look better. Overall, we see a huge surge in demand from tier 2 & tier 3 cities. ~50% of our orders come from Tier 2 and 3 cities. We are truly excited for the future.

    StartupTalky: What lessons did your team learn in the past year, and how will these inform your future plans and strategies?

    Drishti: We learned the power of digitization and how lean business models are the best bet for sustained growth. We will continue to follow the same approach in the foreseeable future.

    StartupTalky: How do you plan to expand the customers, SKUs, and team base in the future?

    Drishti: Looking at our growth trajectory, we are convinced we are on the right track. Our approach is to help us with customer acquisition, and we are launching new styles every week to keep our customers happy. We will stick to the lean model, and the digitized process in design and production will help us scale with a lean team.

    StartupTalky: With so much hype around D2C brands spending on ads, what will be your growth strategy for LetsDressUp, organic or inorganic? How to plan to work around SEO and content marketing?

    Drishti: We will scale digital content based on customer data and distribute it through various channels like social media, conversational marketing, KOL and KOCs, SEO, etc.

    StartupTalky: One tip that you would like to share with another D2C founder?

    Drishti: Know your customer, in and out.

  • Transforming Healthcare: An Exclusive Interview with the Co-Founders of Alyve Health

    As the healthcare industry continues to rapidly evolve, innovative startups are emerging with new solutions to address longstanding challenges. One such company is Alyve Health, a healthcare technology startup that aims to improve patient outcomes and experiences through its cutting-edge platform.

    In a recent interview, we had the pleasure of speaking with Shashank Avadhani, the CEO, and Sushant Roy, the COO and CBO of Alyve Health. They shared their insights into the company’s mission, their innovative platform, and the future of healthcare technology.

    Alyve’s innovative products and services have caught the attention of many in the industry, and we were excited to learn more about their journey and vision for the company.

    StartupTalky: What is the product you provide? How does the product work? What problems does it solve?

    Alyve Health is a single destination platform for all health-related needs. It allows members to access all their health benefits- availed through group plans or self-purchase- in one place. The platform has gained popularity, with hundreds of groups and lacs of members availing of cashless or discounted healthcare options.

    With Alyve Health, members no longer need to navigate multiple healthcare providers to access the health benefits that they are entitled to. Instead, they can access this on a single platform, including insurance, health check-ups, outpatient care, fitness, and preventive care. This not only saves time but also helps members make progress toward their health goals.

    The Alyve Health platform solves the following problems:

    For members:

    • Improves awareness of all available coverages (insurance, health checkups, outpatient, fitness, and preventive care)
    • Ensures access to all benefits on a single platform, thereby providing an integrated healthcare experience at every step and eliminating the vulnerability of pillar-to-post healthcare journeys
    • Accelerates and improves patient progress toward their health goals and outcomes

    For groups:

    • Eliminates the need for HR and Admin teams to negotiate with multiple vendors to secure attractive health benefits for their members. The platform configures multiple coverages and benefits from different providers on one platform.
    • Maximizes financial benefits of scale of supply and helps fight rising costs of healthcare by shifting spending toward prevention

    StartupTalky: What are the key strategies/hacks that you have been following since the beginning? You can also include any tie-up/partnership

    Alyve Health uses two core strategies: Open Acquisition and Open Experience.

    Open Acquisition: Our platform reaches beyond corporate groups and caters to non-employer-employee affinity groups. We also cater to groups of groups, such as broking houses and insurance companies, and have pioneered this strategy. Open Acquisition gives us better market access and allows us to serve a much more comprehensive range of members.

    On the other hand, Open Experience is the approach that we at Alyve Health use to provide our members with easy access to all their healthcare benefits. We provide members with the convenience of a single point of access to all their health benefits, whether purchased on the platform or not.

    The platform is supported by AI technology and expert care guides to ensure members receive high-quality care throughout their healthcare journeys.

    StartupTalky: Industry, target market size, market share. How did you calculate/find it? Where do you see your industry going in the next five years?

    Since the Alyve Health platform unlocks all covered health benefits, our Target Addressable Market (TAM) is the protected or insured segment of the overall healthcare market. This TAM is already extensive, at USD 26B, and includes private health insurance, corporate health benefits, and government coverage programs. Moreover, it’s growing much faster than the Out of Pocket Expenses (OPE) market segment. Over the next decade, India is expected to rapidly become a covered economy, with a projected TAM of USD 440B.

    StartupTalky: Where do you see your company 5/10 years down the road?

    As health benefits become more widespread and India moves towards a USD 500B covered health economy, it is evident that Indians require a transparent and convenient method to access their health benefits and achieve their health goals. Alyve Health’s mission is to meet this significant demand in a member-centric way.

    StartupTalky: Share your future plans about your product features or any business expansion Plans.

    We will continue to invest in building a comprehensive ecosystem and delivering a delightful product experience. To achieve this, we will develop intelligent nudge systems within our product journeys, which will help members take specific actions to get closer to achieving their health goals.

    Furthermore, we will invest in building our brand as a trusted destination for all healthcare journeys of our members. This will require us to recruit and develop the most talented teams across various functions and levels.

    StartupTalky: What is the company’s long and short term vision? What is the core belief behind running the company? What is the motto?

    Our vision is to create a health platform that millions of members can trust for its convenience and result-oriented approach. In the short term, we aim to become the go-to destination for over a million Indian lives seeking comprehensive health solutions.

    Existing healthcare networks and offerings are fragmented, resulting in suboptimal experiences, high costs, and unsatisfactory outcomes. By putting our members at the center of everything we do, we strive to improve health outcomes and reduce the overall cost of healthcare.

    StartupTalky: What are your USP and innovation?

    One of Alyve Health’s unique selling points is our open architecture platform, which enables our members to access the benefits offered by their group and those they may have purchased themselves, such as other insurance plans and health benefits. Our platform works seamlessly for all our members, regardless of their group, insurer, broker, agent, etc.

    In addition to this, our platform is designed for coordinated care and outcome-based programs. Depending on the chosen program, our platform generates tasks involving multiple experts, such as nutritionists, habit coaches, and doctors. This ensures that our members receive comprehensive and personalized care tailored to their specific needs.

    We also incorporate gamification into our platform, which rewards healthy actions and encourages our members to stay engaged with their health. Challenges, rules, and rewards can be customized for different groups, making it a fun and effective way to promote healthy habits and behaviors.

    StartupTalky: What advice would you give to individuals and groups who are seeking to improve their health outcomes while minimizing their healthcare costs?

    If you want to maximize your healthcare benefits, consider shifting your focus towards prevention and health outcomes rather than simply paying for treatments and services as needed. One way to achieve this is through an outcome-based subscription plan. By charging based on the outcomes you desire, such as losing weight or managing diabetes, these plans can help you prioritize your health and achieve your goals.

    Another tip is to leverage the power of groups and scale economics by accessing all your benefits through a single platform, like Alyve Health. This can streamline your healthcare experience and help you make more informed decisions about your care.

    Lastly, consider investing in culture-changing initiatives to help you stay motivated and engaged with your health. This might involve seeking out role model health leaders, participating in hybrid events like app-enabled cyclathons, or joining motivating health challenges. Taking a proactive approach to your health can optimize your healthcare benefits and help your group enjoy a healthier, happier life.

    StartupTalky: How has the COVID-19 pandemic impacted the healthcare industry, and how has Alyve Health adapted to meet the changing needs of its clients?

    The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly impacted the healthcare industry, accelerating the awareness and adoption of health insurance and healthcare services across the country. As a result, digital health has become the new normal, with many people now comfortable using technology to talk to doctors over the phone or order medicines online.

    Hybrid journeys, combining digital and physical elements, have also become increasingly popular. This approach allows patients to receive the best of both worlds, leveraging the convenience of digital healthcare while still accessing in-person services when necessary.

    At Alyve Health, we’ve recognized the importance of these changes and have focused on bringing both digital and in-person healthcare closer to our members. Our platform is designed to provide financial value and convenience, with features like telemedicine consultations, online pharmacy services, and access to a network of trusted healthcare providers. By embracing these new norms, we can continue to provide high-quality care and support to our members, no matter what challenges the future may bring.

    StartupTalky: Can you tell us about a specific success story where Alyve Health was able to help an individual or group improve their health outcomes while reducing costs?

    One of the major success stories of Alyve Health is our ability to cater to non-employer-employee groups through our platform. By focusing on affinity groups and providing affordable health benefits like top-up insurance and digital health plans, we have reached a wide range of people who might not have had access to these resources otherwise.

    Through our platform, members of these groups can access high-quality preventive care, including e-diagnostics, teleconsultations, e-pharmacy services, online fitness programs, weight-loss programs, yoga, and more. By offering these services at “wholesale prices” to the groups, we’ve improved the system’s health while managing the total cost of healthcare.

    One notable success story involves a large non-profit organization partnered with Alyve Health to provide health benefits to its members. Through our platform, we were able to offer a range of digital health services, including telemedicine consultations and online pharmacy services, as well as access to a network of trusted healthcare providers.

    As a result of this partnership, members of the organization could access high-quality care at an affordable cost, and several crores worth of hospitalization expenses have already been routed through our platform. By providing these services, we’ve improved the organization’s members’ overall health and well-being while demonstrating the power of digital health to drive positive outcomes in the healthcare industry.

    In conclusion, Alyve Health’s innovative approach to healthcare technology is truly impressive. With their focus on providing an integrated, seamless experience for patients and groups alike, they are revolutionizing the way healthcare benefits are accessed and utilized. We look forward to seeing the continued growth and success of Alyve Health in the years to come.

    Top 18 Healthcare and Pharma Startups in India 2022
    The Healthcare industry is one of the most successful industries in India. Take a look at some of the most successful healthcare startups in India.
    StartupTalkyVidhi Punamiya

  • ArmorCode Inc.’s CEO, Nikhil Gupta, on the Benefits of Integrating Application Security and Vulnerability Management

    ArmorCode Inc., a security startup focused on unifying application security and vulnerability management, was founded in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic in July 2020.

    In a recent interview with StartupTalky, Nikhil Gupta, the Co-Founder and CEO of ArmorCode Inc., shared insights into the company’s plans, obstacles, and strategies. The intersection of the need for digital transformation and the rise in fraud attacks during the pandemic led Gupta to believe that software security would be critical, and this prompted him to start ArmorCode.

    In just two years, ArmorCode’s revenue grew by 500%, and Gupta attributes this success to the company’s Indian team, which has made a significant impact. Mr. Gupta also shared his vision for ArmorCode, including the company’s plans to invest heavily in engineering and go-to-market efforts with the funds they recently raised.

    Let’s take a closer look at Nikhil’s responses and see what we can learn from our conversation.

    StartupTalky:Could you share a small brief on ArmorCode so that our readers get to know what the company is about? And also, what made you want to start Armorcode?

    Nikhil: Armorcode is a security startup focused on unifying application security and vulnerability management . We started in the middle of COVID, in July of 2020. When COVID hit, as a serial entrepreneur, I knew there would be an opportunity to serve humanity in that calamity. When the world was going towards remote work, during COVID, the need for digital transformation rose sharply. And this prompted fraudsters to attack more, because even they were sitting at home. So that was the intersection, which made me believe that software security would be very important, which prompted me to start ArmorCode. Starting it in the middle of the pandemic has made all the difference, it gave us a head start which has translated into 40+ customers and close to 25% of those are Fortune 500 enterprises. Our revenue grew 500% in 2022 even when the overall tech space was impacted very badly by the economic downturn around the world. I am proud to say our Indian team has made a big impact in our success so far.

    StartupTalky: ArmorCode recently raised some funds. How do you plan to deploy these funds?

    Nikhil: We raised funds for two reasons. One is to accelerate our go-to-market. We have doubled our go-to-market team size. We also want to heavily invest in engineering so these are the two areas where we are using the raised funds.

    StartupTalky: Could you please explain why application security is so important?

    Nikhil: Today everything is software or in some way controlled by software. We use software for everything from Paytm and Bharat Pay, to other apps, all of these digital transactions and transformations require security. Software development has transformed in the last 20-plus years – previously new software was released once a year, and there was no use of open source. It was a very monolithic kind of application. Fast forward 20 years and now, 70 to 80% of the software is open source.

    Further, new software is being released weekly or even daily across complex environments, technologies, and architectures. Applications are increasingly moving to the cloud. And while software development has transformed in the last 20 years, software security has not. You still need over a dozen tools to just secure one application, none of which speak to each other, creating silos. Security teams struggle to understand where applications are deployed and who owns which part. Vulnerabilities arise across applications and infrastructure, but it’s painful to correlate and understand the context. That’s why it’s important to have a single platform like ArmorCode, which unifies and accelerates application security and vulnerability management.

    StartupTalky: What would you consider the value addition and differentiation that AmorCode has over the competition, in terms of ROI and growth for their businesses?

    Nikhil: Right now, the US is going through a difficult economic crisis and in this scenario, only two businesses will grow. One is, if I come to you and say I can increase your revenue from 1 crore rupees to 10 crores, if you give me two crores. The second is, if you’re spending 10 crores rupees on something, and I come and say, I can save you five crores, if you pay me two crores, you will agree to it. Those are fundamental businesses and ArmorCode helps with both types of businesses. Everything is moving to the digital plane and, in that particular scenario we are making the digital landscape secure, allowing companies to increase their revenue or top line.

    Secondly, when the market corrects, there are a lot of job losses and people want to rely more on automation. And that is what ArmorCode does. It helps save cost, thus reducing your cost.

    StartupTalky: What are some of the significant challenges that ArmorCode faced in the past year and how did you overcome these?

    Nikhil: All startups come with challenges. We’ve been fortunate in that , we grew 500% last year, while also expanding our team from 50 to 85. So, from a challenges perspective, we were born in Covid and are scaling during a downturn, so our focus has been on building a strong foundation with the head start we got by starting in the middle of the pandemic when other companies were waiting and watching. And that is why we received our Series A funding so seamlessly.

    StartupTalky: Are there some plans that you have for the India market? Could you quantify those?

    Nikhil: We are very bullish on the Indian market, across various fronts. We have two plans for the India market. Firstly, our engineering team is in India and we want to grow significantly and invest in R&D here. We’re also undertaking strong marketing and sales activities, back-end operations and customer services in India. So, we are betting big on India operations. We believe in taking care of people and if we take care of people, we know that the product will be good, and if the product is good, the business will be profitable.

    Secondly, we have one of the largest IT companies in India as our customer. Several of our customers based in the US also have back offices in India, especially when it comes to security. We are working with three of the largest global big four IT consulting firms based out of India, who want to offer software security through our platform to Indian customers.

    StartupTalky: What is your go-to-market strategy for ArmorCode and how are you planning to address the different categories and levels of businesses that you cater to?

    Nikhil: We are a marketing-led company and our go-to-market strategy is partner driven. So, we have Wipro and Tech Mahindra as our partners, on the global system interfaces. We have also partnered with a few of the big four consulting companies and are partnering with value-added resellers as well. We are also performing the role of a managed services security provider. While we are moving through the partner-driven route, we also have a strong direct go-to-market sales team. Currently, the larger deals are happening through our partners and smaller, mid-sized deals are being undertaken directly.

    StartupTalky: What would you consider are some of the trends and opportunities that are shaping the AppSecOps platform currently?

    Nikhil: Historically, there used to be three separate verticals – Vulnerability management, Application security, and DevSecOps. ArmorCode is the only platform which unifies all three verticals, which is a big trend right now. Platforms like ArmorCode AppSecOps, which can actually unify application security, vulnerability management and DevSecOps, are all following the trend.

    StartupTalky: What would be some of the challenges that make AppSecOps relevant in the market today?

    Nikhil: Any product today, especially in IT, has people, process and technology aspects. Here, we are taking the people-first approach. There are three main teams: the security team, the development team and the operations team, working on these products. The security team is incentivized to make things secure, which inherently makes things slower. And the development team is incentivized to release software faster. So, the development and security teams don’t see eye to eye. And our unique competitive advantage is that we have a deep understanding of all      three aspects. I started my career as an engineer at Bell Labs, then I worked in operations, following which I moved into security. Which is why, when we started this company, we took a people-first approach, rather than the technology-first strategy. We understood the people problem, then built technology to enable people to force multiply their efforts.

    StartupTalky: Digital innovation cycles are becoming shorter as we progress. How has this led to an increase in security risk? And how can this be combated?

    Nikhil: When you would have one release in a year, we would have three months to test the security of the software. Now, that development lifecycle has gone down to one week or one day , and we do not have enough time to fully vet the security. Secondly, for every application security engineer, there are over 100-200 developers. So, the ratio is extremely skewed, increasing the security risks further. These challenges can be combated with a unique  platform like ArmorCode.

    StartupTalky: What are the top impacting factors which are driving the global application security market growth? Is the technology we have today ready to handle the accompanying threats?

    Nikhil: From the trends perspective, when I started the company, application security was the fastest growing vertical, as per Gartner, at 32% CAGR. Now, ArmorCode is at the intersection of vulnerability management, DevSecOps and application security, with an almost $120 billion market. And this is enabling us to accelerate our momentum faster. Our readiness to help diverse organizations is visible from our client base, which includes the world’s largest entertainment company, the largest hospitality company, largest hedge fund, largest big four consulting firms and the largest industrial control systems, as well as digital-native, fast-growing companies. Our platform is ready for enterprise grade challenges. As a testament, we recently processed over a billion findings through our platform.

    StartupTalky: Your market is very B2B, so how do you cater to the consumers directly?

    Nikhil: There are two aspects to it. ArmorCode’s vision is to democratize software security. We believe that everyone from a Fortune 500 company to an individual startup should be using ArmorCode. We have started with the former, where we are catering to organizations with 100 developers or more, but as the world evolves, our vision is that anybody who’s starting a company should be able to use the ArmorCode platform, even if it has only one developer.

    StartupTalky:What are the opportunities that ArmorCode offers Indian tech professionals?

    Nikhil: Overall, it is a very exciting time for the Indian market, and ArmorCode is uniquely positioned, in the current scenario, to grow and expand faster than the market itself. Both my cofounder and I are of Indian origin and we have a huge engineering and development office in India. We are growing quickly, and while many companies are laying off employees, we are hiring. We have several openings as we speak.While 99% of the companies who start in the US, have their main development office in the US and use the India office for backend help, we take a lot of pride in saying that 100% of the code we use is written in India. We have built a world-class product, and the team is getting to work with some of the biggest brands. This is a huge opportunity for people to get on the ArmorCode rocketship and we are looking forward to tapping India’s talent during that ride.

    Author’s Note: We would like to express our deepest appreciation to Nikhil Gupta, CEO of ArmorCode Inc., for providing us with such insightful and informative responses. Your contributions will undoubtedly help our readers gain a deeper understanding of the challenges and opportunities facing the software security industry today.

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  • Insights from Ginesys CEO, Prashant Lohia, on the Future of Retail Software Solutions

    Recently, we had the opportunity to sit down with Prashant Lohia, the founder and CEO of Ginesys, to discuss his innovative approach to retail software solutions. As an experienced leader in the industry, Mr. Lohia has a wealth of knowledge and insights to share about the current state and future direction of the retail sector.

    In our conversation, he provided valuable insights into his company’s goals, vision, and strategies, which are transforming the way businesses operate in the retail space.

    StartupTalky: Kindly give us an overview of the company and its specialization.

    Prashant: Ginesys is a rapidly expanding retail technology company that serves over 1200 customers and has a broad reach across India, with over 50,000 users. Our focus is on providing technological solutions for retail businesses, having successfully supported retail businesses from start-up to IPO over the past decade.

    We have established ourselves as a premier, “Made in India” solution for ERP and POS, catering to the needs of small and medium-sized enterprises. Currently, we offer a complete retail tech suite for omni retail – Ginesys One, which includes everything from ecommerce order management to ERP to POS including GST compliance.

    StartupTalky: Industry, target market size, market share?

    Prashant: We are working for the Indian retail industry. The Indian retail industry has become one of the most dynamic and fast-paced sectors, contributing over 10% of the country’s GDP and 8% of employment. India is the world’s fifth-largest retail destination, and by 2030, the retail sector is expected to reach a market size of US$1.8 trillion. The COVID-19 pandemic has brought about changes in consumer preferences, habits, and attitudes, leading to a significant impact on the way people purchase and consume goods and services.

    Global retailers are adopting innovative business strategies to take advantage of new retail opportunities, and consumers no longer differentiate between offline and online channels. Major companies are experimenting with different approaches to design seamless retail experiences integrated across all channels and revenue models that enhance their customer value proposition.

    In light of all this we expect Indian retail tech to be a massive industry (billion dollars plus) with many players in it. Currently we are the largest player in the sector dealing with Indian customers.

    StartupTalky: What is the Ginesys solution for retail tech in 2023?

    Prashant: The retail landscape is running through an enormous evolution. Research has found that 95% of all purchases are predicted to take place through eCommerce by 2040. The conventional model of having just an unmarried physical store is gradually fading away with increasing customer expectations.

    This transforming trend is having a primary impact on the retail business value chain. The rise of omnichannel retailing has altered the way customers shop. Customers wish for a seamless experience across all channels. This sets the spotlight on retailers to deliver an integrated user background and win customer loyalty.

    Ginesys One was born from a simple belief: retail is complex and changing fast, growing companies need simplified integrated products that help them move faster. From modern cloud-based POS to an integrated omnichannel platform, from ERP to GST compliance, the Ginesys One solution promises to increase sales while optimizing retail operations.

    Backed by a unified support team and built on modern technology, the Ginesys One suite aims to future-proof a retailer’s business and helps them navigate the ever-changing world of retail. Right from the get-go, Ginesys One is expected to save integration time, effort and cost while achieving various omni use cases in a seamless manner.

    StartupTalky: What is the product you provide? How does the product work? What problems does it solve?

    Prashant: Our latest solution, the Ginesys One suite, provides retailers with a range of omnichannel applications including:

    Ginesys ERP: A comprehensive retail ERP system that serves as the core of Ginesys One, enabling dynamic decision-making, merchandising, procurement, warehousing, accounts, and distribution.

    Ginesys Desktop POS: A desktop-based application for in-store billing and inventory management.

    Zwing Cloud POS: A web-based POS application that also works on Android mobile POS.

    Browntape OMS: An eCommerce order and inventory management system that integrates with all marketplaces and webstore platforms. We also provide webstore development and marketing services under this division.

    EaseMyGST: A GST app for creating e-invoices, e-way bills, and filing GST returns in an automated manner.

    Ginesys BI: Complete BI tool and mobile dashboard for analyzing trends in data and discovery of data insights.

    Support for 3rd party integrations: The suite comes pre-integrated with various popular retail tech apps, marketplaces, and eCommerce suites.

    StartupTalky: What are the key strategies/hacks that you have been following since the beginning? You can also include any tie-up/partnership

    Prashant: We started with a simple hack of developing the products for the marquee customers, taking their live and continuous feedback. This ensured perfect product market fit in no time. Our passion lies in providing user-friendly solutions that are tailored to fit the needs and mindset of the Indian market.

    Combined with exceptional customer support, this approach helps to retain and delight our customers. Our business model is centered around customer retention, which is why we have always placed a higher priority on retaining existing customers rather than acquiring new ones.

    StartupTalky: How is Ginesys bridging the gap between retail and technology and what do you understand about retail management software?

    Prashant: The term “Retail Management Software” is broad and frequently used in the industry to encompass a range of products, from basic point-of-sale (POS) billing to accounting software like Tally to dedicated retail-specific solutions. Ginesys addresses the challenges faced by retailers in finding the right technology to meet their needs by providing a comprehensive solution for both online and offline retail.

    Moreover, we offer the entire suite of products as ready to use and as cloud SaaS subscriptions, which is a unique approach as most competing solutions require several months to implement. This allows retailers to go live quickly and efficiently within their tight timelines. This is especially true of ERP and BI where we are miles ahead of competition from the global ERP majors.

    StartupTalky: Where do you see your company 5/10 years down the road?

    Prashant: We are already the number 1 retail tech company in India and we hope that in 5-10 we shall be able to replicate the success of some of the other tech startups and go global. We have more products and deeper integrations planned for the retail industry. Overall we feel that retail is the most dynamic industry right now across the world so there will be a good demand for our products.

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  • From Shopping to Entertainment: Times Prime Business Head Harshita Singh Shares How the Super-App Is Revolutionizing the Subscription Economy

    StartupTalky presents Recap’22. This is a series of interviews in which we conduct in-depth discussions with founders & industry leaders to understand their growth in 2022 and their predictions for the future.

    The subscription economy offers various products and services through a subscription-based model, providing value and convenience to consumers who can access a range of offerings with a single payment. It has expanded into various areas, including digital content, personal grooming, health, and education. This model has become increasingly popular in India, where consumers are looking for cost-effective and convenient ways to access products and services.

    According to Statista, the global digital subscription economy was worth $650 billion in 2020 and is expected to grow to $1.5 trillion by 2025.

    For this Interview, we invited, Harshita Singh, Business Head of Times Prime and we talked about the growth, challenges, insights, and future opportunities in the subscription economy.

    StartupTalky: Ms Harshita Singh, please tell us about Times Prime. What was the motivation/vision behind it?

    Harshita: A glimpse at your smartphone today will tell you just how many subscription-based services have pervaded our lives. Be it booking a cab, shopping, ordering food, or booking a table at a restaurant, there’s always an app for that. But at some point subscription fatigue has to become a real phenomenon right? This is where Times Prime, the super App from Times Internet, comes into play. Rapidly rising as one of the most preferred lifestyle super-apps, Times Prime offers an extensive range of benefits on a single platform, from shopping to entertainment and lifestyle, brands like Starbucks, Myntra, Uber, Disney+ Hotstar, SonyLIV, Google One, and many more. The idea is simple — instead of paying for different subscription services, pay for one and you can access all of these at once.

    StartupTalky: What new services have been added in the past year? What is/are the USP/s of your service?

    Harshita: To sustain this growth momentum, we will continue to launch exciting benefits and experiences that are valued by the transacting digital natives in the country. We also want to continually upgrade the app experience to better showcase the new categories and to enable discovery of the range of benefits. The beauty of a subscription offering is that people pay you for their own loyalty. As a platform that gives us a lot of leverage to be a launchpad for new subscriptions, D2C offerings, and ticketed events, thus resulting in monetization opportunities beyond the subscription paywall.

    StartupTalky: How has the subscription economy changed in recent years, and how has Times Prime adapted to these changes?

    Harshita: The subscription economy is growing worldwide. We have led the industry for 3 years and continued to do so last year by a far margin. Currently, we have a strong presence in the Online-To-Offline (OTO) space as some of Times Prime’s benefits and experience can only be enjoyed offline. One good example can be our Grooming & Well-being benefits. Similar to this, our members book curated Times Prime experiences & events like Purple Carpet, The Gourmet Table, History & Food Walks, Photography walks, offers on tea & coffee, and mixology sessions on the platform to enjoy them at some of the top venues with other members. We are seeing strong demand for this category and have a number of exclusive properties in the pipeline.

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    StartupTalky: What key metrics do you track to check the company’s growth and performance?

    Harshita: We have had an exponential growth of 300% over the last 3 years. Renewals are one of the highest benchmarks, and the beauty of a subscription offering is that people pay you for their own loyalty, and we are happy with the increasing rate of renewals. Most of our early members are in their 3rd cycle with us.

    StartupTalky: What were the most significant challenges Times Prime faced in the past year and how did you overcome them?

    Harshita: The country was reeling with COVID last year. But it did not affect Times Prime as the bundle has great breadth and depth. We have a strong OTO portfolio with OTTs, e-commerce partners, and news & learning brands. Times Prime also introduced quite a few digital events for our members and after the first event response, we knew we were on the right track. Due to this, we had no negative impact in fact it had a positive impact on sales.

    StartupTalky: What are the important tools and software you use to run Times Prime smoothly?

    Harshita: Times Prime is part of the Times Internet Group of companies and this gives us access to in-house software and tools. These have given us quick access to data that is easily consumable across teams and functions.

    StartupTalky: What opportunities do you see for future growth in your industry in India and the world? What kind of difference in market behavior have you seen between India and the world?

    Harshita: The world is shifting to a subscription economy and the same shift is now seen in India. India is a large and diverse country and your marketing tactics change state-wise as well as the size of a town. One shoe does not fit all.

    StartupTalky: How do you plan to expand the Customers, product, and team base in the future?

    Harshita: The app has been seeing increasing demand from all regions in India. Over-the-top (OTT) and news content are consumed most often, along with services like cabs, restaurants, grooming, and curated events. Initially trying to get brands to buy into the concept was really difficult. But there is a flywheel that exists in bundles- good brands attract more good brands. We also deliver immense value to our partners – scale, user quality, and transactions, and that’s why they choose to be a part of Times Prime year after year.

    StartupTalky: One tip that you would like to share with people reading this article who want to get into entrepreneurship.

    Harshita: Identifying the Gap in the market is the most valuable advice to avoid misreading the market demand. Your idea should be profitable and aligned with your interests to grow.

    We thank Harshita for spending her valuable time and sharing her learnings with all of us.

    You can read other Recap’22 Interviews here.

  • EduCrack CEO Anand Bhushan Discusses Innovative Test Prep Solutions for Revolutionizing Education With Technology

    The EdTech industry has grown significantly in recent years as technology has become more widely available and more integrated into education. Edtech products and services are used in a variety of settings, including traditional classroom-based education, online and distance learning, and informal learning environments.

    According to a MarketsandMarkets report, the Edtech and Smart Classrooms market is expected to grow from $125.3 billion in 2022 to $232.9 billion by 2027, growing at a CAGR of 13.2% during the forecast period.

    For this Interview, we invited, Anand Bhushan, CEO of EduCrack, and we talked about the growth, challenges, insights, and future opportunities in the ed-tech industry.

    StartupTalky: Mr Anand Bhushan, please tell us about EduCrack. What was the motivation/vision with which you started?

    Anand Bhushan: The company EduCrack is a Next-Gen EdTech company empowering the Test Prep Industry to help their students to follow their dreams by providing them with best-curated content by mentors, along with unbeatable test series through Technology enabled state of an art platform. The vision behind EduCrack was to leverage Technology to bring Education, specifically Competition preparation to the reach of all aspiring students, so that they can fulfill their dreams. Our Founder Mr Neeraj Sharma has a clear vision that ‘anyone who is willing to gain knowledge should never be left behind irrespective of their geographical and socio-economic conditions.’

    StartupTalky: What other products/features have been added in the past year? What is/are the USP/s of your product?

    Anand Bhushan: A technology platform which is state of the art but easy to use, incorporating AI and ML, Educators who are the best mentors for their respective content and subject, unbeatable test series, and AI-enabled Interview Evaluation and Feedback for preparation of interviews.

    StartupTalky: How has the ed-tech industry changed in recent years, and how has EduCrack adapted to these changes?

    Anand Bhushan: The industry has changed drastically in the last few years. From an industry, which was predominantly in the physical mode of teaching, learned to go online during a pandemic and online teaching with the use of technology became paramount. Post-pandemic, there was an immediate surge of getting back offline and corrections happened for the industry. Big shake-ups happened, and those having overleveraged have suffered in terms of revenue, students, and erosion of profits. Now things are stabilizing and finding a mid-way as a Hybrid model where online is going to complement offline and vice versa. We realized that this shake-up was bound to happen and had prepared ourselves as an academic and technology solution provider to the Test Prep industry across the country so that we are part of the Hybrid, and also in sync with the vision of imparting knowledge to anyone who is willing, irrespective of geographical considerations.

    Anand Bhushan: The basics remain the same. You keep your eyes open, and ears to the ground to hear the rumblings and changes around you. Industry forums are a great way to understand the developments. The web has become a big source of updating oneself with the latest trends, provided you can separate out the wheat from the chaff.

    StartupTalky: What key metrics do you track to check the company’s growth and performance?

    Anand Bhushan: The key metrics are both tangible and non-tangible. A few of them being the acquisition of number of students and institutes, the number of courses being added, refinement in the tech platform, usage of AI-enabled interview process, quality of the test series and what the market is saying about it, happiness quotient of the partners being associated with us and the growth in revenues and student acquisition for them.

    StartupTalky: What were the most significant challenges EduCrack faced in the past year and how did you overcome them?

    Anand Bhushan: With the opening up of restrictions post-pandemic, students vying more for offline classes on the rebound was a big challenge. EduCrack overcame it in two ways, one by the usage of social media for pushing in and showing to the students, the quality of our content and mentors as well as free tests for them to gauge the relevance and quality of test series. And secondly turning as an Academic and Technology Solutions provider to the predominantly offline test prep industry, so as to enable them to run a hybrid model and disseminate knowledge to more students.

    StartupTalky: What are the different strategies you use for marketing? Tell us about any growth hack which you pulled off.

    Anand Bhushan: Strategies for most of the edtech companies remain the same. It is the effectiveness with which you execute them that creates the difference in the market. One of the things which were effective for us was a six-hour marathon problem-solving session on all three sections of CAT by our mentors, in front of a live audience of students and also being streamed live directly. The program was much appreciated by our competitors as well.

    StartupTalky: What are the important tools and software you use to run EduCrack smoothly?

    Anand Bhushan: Without getting into the specifics, I would like to say that almost all of the digital technology EduCrack uses is developed in-house, including the LMS. We have also developed, in association with our partners, an AI-enabled Interview assessment and feedback tool, which assess on the broad parameters of verbal, and non-verbal cues and sentiment analysis. In addition, we use tools like Google meet, Google Docs, Zoom, etc.

    StartupTalky: What opportunities do you see for future growth in your industry in India and the world? What kind of difference in market behavior have you seen within states in India?

    Anand Bhushan: Growth potential and opportunities are going to be there both in India and World. Some shake-ups are bound to happen, but the resilient will stay, adapt and grow. With the coming of Web 3.0, there would be a lot of positive changes happening in the education industry, and new possibilities opening up. In India, with the NEP being implemented, changes will happen in the way the education industry is being run today. Metros as usual will be the first to react and respond to the changed behavior of the markets. In the Corporate world also, despite the talk of global recession, India hopefully will not be much impacted and growth will continue leading to more hiring and better hiring solution requirement.

    StartupTalky: What lessons did your team learn in the past year and how will these inform your future plans and strategies?

    Anand Bhushan: The biggest lesson in the past year was that markets are going to be dynamic and fluid. Agility is going to be the key with fast decision-making and low turnaround time. Lean teams are the norm of the day and going forward too, with multitasking skills to look for in each employee.

    StartupTalky: How do you plan to expand the Customers, product, and team base in the future?

    Anand Bhushan: Our expansion is going to be in two domains.

    One as an Academic Content and Technology solution provider to the Test Prep industry. Providing them with a robust platform to augment their offline classes and helping them with online tests and content, so as to make it easier for them to cater to a larger student base with quality and convenience at their fingertips.

    The second domain will be as a Recruitment solution provider to the Corporates, by way of providing them AI-enabled interview process for recruitment screening.

    StartupTalky: One tip that you would like to share with people reading this article who want to get into entrepreneurship.

    Anand Bhushan: There is never a shortcut to success. It’s going to be a long haul. Strategies get overturned, revamped, and re-executed but you have to be resilient, once you have chosen a way forward, which your research has shown to be the right path. And finally. Never ignore your gut instinct.

    We thank Anand Bhushan for spending his valuable time and sharing his learnings with all of us.

    You can read other Recap’22 Interviews here.

  • Chandan Bagwe, Founder and Managing Director, C Com Digital, Shares Insights on Revolutionizing the Tech-Enabled Marketing Landscape

    StartupTalky presents Recap’22. This is a series of interviews in which we conduct in-depth discussions with founders & industry leaders to understand their growth in 2022 and their predictions for the future.

    Digital transformation and online presence are becoming increasingly important for businesses of all sizes. Techno-digital marketing agencies are on the rise, helping companies achieve their digital transformation goals and establish a strong online presence. These agencies offer end-to-end digital marketing communication and technology support, including services like social media optimization, digital marketing, search engine optimization, conversational marketing, and more.

    With the constant need for businesses to keep up with the latest trends and developments in digital marketing, these agencies stay one step ahead of the competition by closely monitoring the latest industry trends and technologies. As the demand for digital marketing and transformation grows, these agencies are expanding their services to cater to clients on a global scale.

    As per Statista, the global digital marketing industry is expected to grow at a CAGR of 17.4% from 2021 to 2028, reaching a market size of $422.4 billion by 2028.

    For this Interview, we invited, Chandan Bagwe, Founder and Managing Director of C Com Digital and we talked about the growth, challenges, insights, and future opportunities in the digital marketing industry.

    StartupTalky: What service does your company provide? What was the motivation/vision with which you started?

    Chandan: C Com Digital is a full-service techno digital marketing agency. The company helps its clients undertake digital transformation and maintain a robust and effective online presence. We create brand communication for modern businesses and help them in digital marketing to grow their Business.

    The vision behind C Com Digital was to build a globally renowned digital company that offers end-to-end digital marketing communication and technology support to its clients. We have steadily expanded our capabilities to fulfill that vision.

    StartupTalky: What new services have been added in the past year? What is/are the USP/s of your service?

    Chandan: Our unmatched excellence in creativity, customer understanding, and technical expertise has made us stand out in the market, and we are rapidly scaling our global presence.

    We offer mandatory brand hygiene services like content-focused Search Engine Optimization, Social Media Optimization, and digital marketing tech configuration. Apart from that, we also do brand awareness campaigns, PII-focused campaigns, conversational marketing campaigns, digital PR Campaigns, and advanced AI-ML integration for lead analysis and higher conversion. This delivers more significant ROI for the clients.

    This year, we have entered the US markets intending to become an international provider of reliable and high-performance IT-enabled services, specifically Enterprise Mobility Solutions, Program Support, Cloud Computing, Customer Software Development, and Enterprise Data Management.

    StartupTalky: How has the digital marketing industry changed in recent years, and how has your company adapted to these changes?

    Chandan: In the last few years, especially since the pandemic’s start, there has been a great need for digital marketing and digital transformation across all industry segments. Having been in the techno-digital space for more than two decades, we have all the right technologies and market understanding. As the world resumed work-from-office this year, we have expanded our service offerings and services. We have expanded to the US markets to ensure that Indian techno-digital companies get visibility in international circles. We will collaborate with more western businesses to keep the growth trajectory going.

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    Chandan: Being in the techno-digital space and working with clients daily keeps one aware of emerging trends and needs. Our teams are constantly monitoring these needs. We also keep a tab on the US and European digital marketing trends. We use the best of creativity and technology to ensure that we can help our clients achieve all their digital transformation and communication needs conveniently and efficiently.

    StartupTalky: What key metrics do you track to check the company’s growth and performance?

    Chandan: For us, the parameters that matter are how our top-line and bottom-line business grows. We have constantly achieved growth through deploying cutting-edge services, acquiring the right talent, and improving and optimizing processes through integrating CRM tools. We also measure growth by measuring new business generated and the new services launched. This year marked our entry into the US markets, where we have added diverse tech solutions to our offerings. These are some of the things we focus on apart from ensuring consistency of quality and client satisfaction.

    StartupTalky: What were the most significant challenges your company faced in the past year and how did you overcome them?

    Chandan: The significant challenges came in the form of changing expectations from the customers. They didn’t just want us to help them with their brand communication but also to provide holistic support in the digital transformation of their business. We leveraged our technological expertise and infrastructure to create the solutions the market needs. We have added various services to our
    portfolio to cater to the demand.

    StartupTalky: Good service is something everyone is talking about in the service industry. How do you ensure that your clients are happy?

    Chandan: We have built an end-to-end portfolio of services by combining top talent and advanced platform technologies. We have integrated AI, ML, and data analytics to bring the best insights for continuous process improvements. We remain ahead of the competition regarding tech enhancements and understanding the audiences for each campaign or digital marketing activity we undertake.

    Further, we work closely with our clients and constantly listen to their needs and feedback. This kind of collaborative support has enabled us to ensure that our clients are happy. Thus, it helps us solve any challenges that arise or fulfill their expectations.

    StartupTalky: What are the different strategies you use for marketing? Tell us about any growth hack which you pulled off.

    Chandan: Our digital marketing services for our client gives excellent results. Along with the hygiene activities as part of our services, conversational marketing, PII-focused campaigns, and Digital PR works wonders. We use the same techniques for our business growth too. We have been showcasing and presenting our successful and award-winning case studies to prospects. Case studies are the most important aspect of the growth hack.

    StartupTalky: Foreign clients- this is what most of the service-based companies are looking for. What has been your experience?

    Chandan: An international clientele is key to growth for any service sector enterprise. As a premier techno-digital agency, we have regularly worked with domestic and international clients. We have entered the US markets, and our experience working with international clients has been highly satisfactory, enriching, and encouraging.

    StartupTalky: What are the important tools and software you use to run your business smoothly?

    Chandan: We use many tools and technologies for web, cloud, and other projects. We primarily rely on Slack and Google suites for all communication needs, AWS Services for hosting and email solutions, and Adobe Suite for creative and web development services. We also undertake custom software development, using all the cutting-edge tech inputs per each project’s need. Apart from it, Various E-Commerce Partnerships and Online business partnerships are key to business success.

    StartupTalky: What opportunities do you see for future growth in your industry in India and the world? What kind of difference in market behavior have you seen between India and the world?

    Chandan: The potential is enormous as almost every business, whether a startup or SME or a large global enterprise, is going for digital transformation and adoption of SaaS products and digital communication tools and capabilities. Beyond that, the growth opportunities are equally high in the domestic and world markets. Indian companies have traditionally lagged in digitization, but currently, we are witnessing an unprecedented surge in demand for solutions. Western markets have had exposure to SaaS solutions and tech-driven operations, so there is a little more clarity about the need and how things should be.

    StartupTalky: What lessons did your team learn in the past year, and how will these inform your future plans and strategies?

    Chandan: Most importantly, we must keep ourselves abreast with the technology change. We have to keep adding new services to meet the market demand. We must keep innovating and scout for the best talent in technology, creativity, content, and influencer marketing.

    StartupTalky: How do you plan to expand the Customers, service offering, and team base in the future?

    Chandan: We are a steadily growing organization, and our team base keeps increasing in proportion to business growth. We welcome quality talent in all areas that our operations cover. We entered the US market this year by unveiling our IT-enabled services. Our goal is to steadily expand the spectrum of our services and become an international provider of trustworthy, efficient, and cost-effective IT-
    enabled services. As an Indian company entering the US markets, we are bringing about a transformation in the techno-digital space as earlier the trend used to be of American companies entering the Indian market. This will help C Com grow better in the times ahead and enable the entire ecosystem to evolve faster.

    StartupTalky: One tip that you would like to share with another service company founder?

    Chandan: In digital marketing, “Technology – Change is the Only constant.” Therefore, provide high-quality latest trending services to your client along with consistent performance. It is critical for business success.

    We thank Chandan for spending his valuable time and sharing his learnings with all of us.

    You can read other Recap’22 Interviews here.

  • Unleashing the Power of Creativity and Tech: By The Gram Founders Redefine Content Studio With Unique Originals

    StartupTalky presents Recap’22. This is a series of interviews in which we conduct in-depth discussions with founders & industry leaders to understand their growth in 2022 and their predictions for the future.

    In today’s digital age, content creation, and brand development are crucial components of marketing and advertising. Content creation aims to create and distribute valuable and engaging content that builds brand awareness, establishes thought leadership, and drives engagement with target audiences. On the other hand, brand creation involves extensive research, strategy development, and the creation of visual and verbal elements that accurately reflect a company’s values and mission.

    Effective content and brand creation help businesses establish a strong online presence, increase brand recognition, and drive engagement and sales. With the increasing importance of digital marketing, the demand for these services has been growing rapidly.

    According to a report by Statista, in 2021, the global advertising industry was estimated to be worth over $600 billion and is expected to continue growing at a moderate to high rate in the coming years.

    For this Interview, we invited, Danisha Kohli, Eman Batliwalla, and Aaliya Amrin, Co-founders of By The Gram (BTG) and we talked about the growth, challenges, insights, and future opportunities in the content and advertising industry.

    StartupTalky: What service does your company provide? What was the motivation/vision with which you started?

    BTG Founders: BTG is a content studio – a unique intersection where creativity meets tech. Production house meets full-service creative agency.

    Our vision was to build a company that did not exist yet in a market-ready and yearning for this unique hybrid.

    StartupTalky: What new services have been added in the past year? What is/are the USP/s of your service?

    BTG Founders: We are venturing into long-format original content with a slate of fresh young adult scripts that are currently being shopped around to platforms and production houses alike. Ultimately we are young people writing stories for young people.

    StartupTalky: How has the content and advertising industry changed in recent years, and how has your company adapted to these changes?

    BTG Founders: The key is to be constantly evolving and adaptive, never rigid in your services/offerings or even your company culture. The pandemic changed everything about the ad industry today, those that changed with it, were able to last.

    StartupTalky: How do you stay up-to-date on the latest trends and developments in the content and advertising industry?

    BTG Founders: Read, a lot. Watch, a lot.

    StartupTalky: What key metrics do you track to check the company’s growth and performance?

    BTG Founders: Growth in company size, client size, project size, and retention of all of the above.

    StartupTalky: What were the most significant challenges your company faced in the past year and how did you overcome them?

    BTG Founders: The past year was neither here nor there with regard to the after-effects of the pandemic. A mix of being back in the office meets remote working and so on and so forth. As a company, we’re full of left brains and right brains trying to work together on projects which often require adequate face-to-face time. Getting back into the groove of a ‘flexible’ in-person company culture was the toughest challenge for most of us.

    We remain flexible to those who are not native to Bombay and allow ourselves to pick and choose our in-office days.

    StartupTalky: Good service is something everyone is talking about in the service industry. How do you ensure that your clients are happy?

    BTG Founders: With the economy bouncing back, the advertising industry will boomerang aggressively. The handbrakes are coming off and brands are re-energized. BTG’s intention in the coming years is to provide future-proofing to clients. Future-proofing includes owning the brand experience and the data.

    BTG thrives at the intersection of creativity and tech. Now that more and more
    brands are looking to go direct to consumer, the idea is to own the customer relationship and the data that goes with it (especially with a cookie-less future ahead). Through this BTG works to evolve their clients from focusing on transaction and conversion to deeper engagement, and customer loyalty.

    StartupTalky: Foreign clients- this is what most service-based companies are looking for. What has been your experience?

    BTG Founders: Our biggest USP to date is our ability to produce content of a high caliber globally. Our producers are all over from London and New York to Hong Kong and Dubai. We have a seamless process wherein we are able to shoot for international clients on their home turfs and even shoot for our local clients elsewhere as per their unique requirements.

    With trusted A-Teams in place, we have mastered an automotive experience for our clients wherever they are.

    StartupTalky: What are the important tools and software you use to run your business smoothly?

    BTG Founders: Investing in the right creatives to build out a brand’s creative strategy will be instrumental in a world that is no longer ruled by algorithmic targeting. BTG’s goal is to get nifty with the privacy-friendly data available, in order to produce data-informed, clutter-breaking content – all whilst remaining personalized, relevant, and compelling.

    BTG plans on investing in AI-powered creative insights to leapfrog our content performance to the next level. AI will dominate when augmented with a human touch. Until today, AI companies and content studios like BTG functioned separately, merging now and again on a token project without any long-term synergy. In the next five years, BTG hopes to bring in-house the technology, and
    infuse it into their day-to-day practices. With AI, agencies have an opportunity to advance digital advertising by eliminating guesswork in creativity—constantly learning and optimizing what is truly resonating with consumers. This will be step one in implementing high-end AI innovation and eventually far more exciting adoptions for agencies like BTG in the ad tech space. They recognize the competitive advantage they have, which is to pair the AI with the right human touch, for this to be done effectively and responsibly, human augmentation
    must play a critical role.

    StartupTalky: What lessons did your team learn in the past year and how will these inform your future plans and strategies?

    BTG Founders: BTG was founded on the commitment to be 75% diverse and will continue to be that way years down the line. We firmly believe our women’s leadership, right from our producers and managers to our cinematographers and designers has been the secret sauce to our global large-scale productions, international presence, and our 16x growth over the last four years.

    By The Gram Team
    By The Gram Team

    StartupTalky: How do you plan to expand the Customers, service offering, and team base in the future?

    BTG Founders: Over the last few years, original content has become the cornerstone of entertainment, from household names to niche businesses – It’s not hard to see why – people crave originality and hate being sold to.

    As an agency, BTG has always been content first. With the economy bouncing back, the advertising industry will boomerang aggressively. The handbrakes are
    coming off and brands are re-energized. Their primary play is already in motion. Currently, they own the short format space, with an alarming monopoly over all things short form. They have finessed their production prowess and uber-niche offerings. Earlier this year, they ventured into original content and long formats, ranging from their very own slate of eight-episode series, to buying the rights for Hindi adaptions of the best KTV has to offer.

    The next two to three years will mean harnessing their existing relationships in entertainment to house our long-format vertical: BTG Films. Their think tanks and writers’ rooms are expanding, and over the course of the next five years, they see themselves with a dedicated department for long format and original content wherein we bring the writers, directors, and producers – a triple threat.

    StartupTalky: One tip that you would like to share with another service company founder?

    BTG Founders: Too many voices reduce the quality of a conversation and complicate leadership hierarchies impede swift decision-making.

    We thank Danisha Kohli, Eman Batliwalla, and Aaliya Amrin for spending their valuable time and sharing their learnings with all of us.

    You can read other Recap’22 Interviews here.

  • Co-founder Navin Rao on The Kaftan Company’s Commitment to Sustainability, Comfort, and Style With Their Range of Kaftans and Loungewear

    StartupTalky presents Recap’22. This is a series of interviews in which we conduct in-depth discussions with founders & industry leaders to understand their growth in 2022 and their predictions for the future.

    Kaftans are a type of traditional clothing originating in the Middle East and North Africa. They are loose, flowing garments that are typically made from lightweight, breathable materials, such as cotton or silk. They are often worn as a type of formal or semi-formal dress and are often embellished with intricate embroidery, beading, or other decorative elements.

    In recent years, kaftans have become popular as a fashion item in many different cultures, including those outside of the Middle East and North Africa. They are now often used as a comfortable and stylish alternative to more traditional clothing items, such as dresses or skirts.

    There are many companies that specialize in the production and sale of kaftans. These companies offer a variety of kaftans in different styles, materials, and sizes, and many also offer customization options to ensure that each kaftan is as unique as the person wearing it.

    For this Interview, we invited, Navin Rao, Co-founder of The Kaftan Company and we talked about the growth, challenges, insights, and future opportunities in the fashion industry.

    StartupTalky: Navin, what products does your company sell? What was the motivation/vision with which you started?

    Navin: We are India’s leading brand for Kaftans. The Kaftan Company was founded in 2016 when the market was becoming competitive with several new brands. However, this was also when many similar products filled the market, and the founders were keen to create a unique product category that would be comfortable, high-quality, and stylish.

    That’s where the Co-founder Prakruti Gupta Rao came across Kaftans. She found that the dress that has been a favorite of royals and celebrities for centuries afforded the right grace, comfort, ease of wearing, and style for all women. It creates the impression of someone who is free-thinking, courageous, and open
    to new opportunities and experiences.

    StartupTalky: What other products/features have been added in the past year? What is/are the USP/s of your products?

    Navin: The Kaftan Company is the leading brand specializing in the design and creation of Kaftans in India. We have innovated and created a diverse range of loungewear, sleepwear, and kaftans for every occasion. We have expanded to loungewear, kids’ kaftans, and even a range of loungewear for men apart from traditional kaftans.

    The brand’s commitment to sustainability accompanies the high quality and stylishness of The Kaftan Company’s range of kaftans. The brand has given a contemporary feel to the iconic kaftans and uses cutting-edge technology to make products that are environmentally friendly.

    Departing from the conventional printing methods, TKC produces digitally printed kaftans. This helps in saving water, dyes, electricity, and even fuel. Further, it is almost a zero-waste fashion brand with ethical production practices and a constant focus on using natural fabrics that enable artisans to display traditional craftsmanship.

    StartupTalky: How has the fashion industry changed in recent years, and how has your company adapted to these changes?

    Navin: The fashion industry has become increasingly competitive, and in the last few years, we have seen a lot of D2C brands come up in the segment. In the wake of the pandemic, there is a greater demand for comfortable and stylish dresses to wear at home or outside with equal ease.

    Further, we are witnessing much attention on eco-friendly manufacturing and growing customer demand for natural fabrics and colors that don’t harm the environment.

    At TKC, we have already been following a manufacturing process that minimizes raw material waste through digital design and printing. We use natural fabrics in our products and this emphasis on comfort and sustainability has made TKC a market-leading brand.

    How has AI Revolutionized the Fashion Industry?
    Revenue in the Indian Fashion segment is projected to reach $18.51 billion in 2022. Let’s find out how AI is revolutionizing the Fashion Industry.
    StartupTalkyPooja Uniyal

    Navin: We constantly follow global fashion trends and keep an eye on what style, pattern, or design dominates the popular international and domestic markets. We read style guides and fashion roundups and follow the fashion trends and leading magazines to remain updated. At the same time, we also regularly focus on innovating and creating new trends based on the kaftans.

    StartupTalky: What key metrics do you track to check the company’s growth and performance?

    Navin: There are multiple metrics we look at when considering the company’s growth and performance. The standard and basic ones include various revenue-based metrics. Being a digital-only brand, we look at various metrics within the digital marketing space. These include monitoring the average revenue per user, lifetime value, customer acquisition costs, repeat purchase rate, etc. Ultimately customer loyalty program and their measurement also plays a significant part in
    understanding the preference of our customers.

    StartupTalky: What were the most significant challenges your company faced in the past year and how did you overcome them?

    Navin: As we continue to grow and evolve as a brand, our messaging to customers was getting confusing with the various categories and names associated with our group of sleepwear and loungewear kaftans. (Women’s, Maternity, Kids, Men’s, etc…) As a result, we spent a lot of time consolidating and identifying a consistent image to portray to our customers in recognition of our brand. This meant creating new standardized logos, taglines, and essentially a corporate identity with relevant guidelines in place. We look forward to maintaining this image and providing consistency so our customers easily identify with our brand as we continue to appreciate their loyalty and support.

    StartupTalky: Repeat purchase is one of the most important parameters on which most e-commerce brands are betting. How do you keep your customer engaged to stop churn?

    Navin: Modern customers are very conscious of the quality, comfort, and value they get from the products they purchase. They are more focused on getting an enhanced all-around experience with the products they buy. Happy customers make repeat purchases and are most likely to help the brand grow organically. By creating, innovative, high-quality, comfortable, and competitively priced kaftans and other dress items for women, kids, and men, we have managed to deliver on
    all these parameters.

    StartupTalky: What are the different strategies you use for marketing? Tell us about any growth hack which you pulled off.

    Navin: We are an eCommerce platform specializing in fashionable kaftans. We use social media marketing and search engine marketing to promote the products. Further, our most significant focus is on content marketing. We have a high-traffic website where we regularly publish fashion blogs, daily wear guides, and information pieces about innovations and new developments in the world of kaftans.

    Further, we leverage influencer marketing by collaborating with celebrities and
    social media influencers. A key growth hack for TKC has been the focus on quality which has led the brand to a more substantial repeat clientele and word-of-mouth publicity.

    StartupTalky: What are the important tools and software you use to run your business smoothly?

    Navin: We use the latest eCommerce, digital design and printing tools, and various relevant software to keep operations lean, eco-friendly, and smooth.

    StartupTalky: What opportunities do you see for future growth in your industry in India and the world? What kind of difference in market behavior have you seen within states in India?

    Navin: India has vast market potential, and as awareness about sustainable, comfortable, and high-quality fashion grows, we are witnessing a rapid growth in demand for kaftans. When we started in 2016, there were only a few options to buy kaftans in India, and they were usually uninspiring and costly.

    The Kaftan Company was the first brand to formally retail kaftans as its core offering in the country, and the growth has been spectacular. The market is rapidly growing in India and globally, and kaftans have become the core upon which loungewear, maternity wear, beach wear, etc., is now based. India is a vast country with diverse cultures and fashion sensibilities in each.

    Some regions are very warm to kaftans, and others where we see very little awareness about the kaftans. However, the market is opening up through sustained content marketing and user experience for kaftans. Several new brands have come into the arena. Even though they don’t match our kaftans in quality or creativity, these brands are helping build a competitive and national market for kaftans.

    StartupTalky: What lessons did your team learn in the past year, and how will these inform your plans and strategies?

    Navin: Our team has learned to handle adversity and change in the past year. The continued impact and uncertainty of current times combined with the continuous change in the digital landscape means no two days are ever the same. The team has understood that sustaining through the current business environment isn’t easy, and one must always be ready to embrace change in order to continue to grow.

    StartupTalky: How do you plan to expand the Customers, SKUs, and team base in the future?

    Navin: We regularly introduce new designs and have been expanding our presence in the domestic and international markets through the eCommerce channel; we have also introduced a wide range of product categories such as kaftans pants, maternity wear, kids wear, and menswear, etc. The team is also steadily growing in sync with the rise in demand after the pandemic. We currently
    have more than 500 SKUs, and the numbers will keep increasing as we go along.

    StartupTalky: With so much hype around D2C brands spending on ads, what will be your growth strategy, organic or inorganic? How to plan to work around SEO and content marketing?

    Navin: SEO and content marketing are two of our key marketing channels. The Kaftan Company has benefited from content marketing, and it will remain pivotal to our brand. Consumers not only want to browse through the diversity of products but are also keen to know why they should choose a product like a kaftan. They want to know about the various options, the manufacturing process, and the quality of the dresses on offer. Through regular usage of content marketing, we
    advise our audience on what kind of dresses or kaftans they should wear on different occasions and in different seasons.

    StartupTalky: One tip that you would like to share with another D2C founder?

    Navin: Embrace the changes in an uncertain business environment, and always be aiming far ahead while also learning from the past.

    We thank Navin for spending his valuable time and sharing his learnings with all of us.

    You can read other Recap’22 Interviews here.