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Tag: machine learning

  • How Cloud Tailor is using ML to deliver Personalized Fashion Styling

    Company Profile is an initiative by StartupTalky to publish verified information on different startups and organizations. The content in this post has been approved by Cloud Tailor.

    Cloud Tailor is a D2C mobile app that enables Personalized fashion styling, fashion visualization, recommendations, order placement, tracking, and fulfillment. It is the only tech-enabled personalized fashion brand in India – Serving global women customers from India. StartupTalky interviewed Susmitha Lakkakula (Founder, Cloud Tailor) to get insights on the startup story and roadmap of the organization. In this article, you’ll discover how Cloud Tailor was started, its journey to date, marketing strategies, revenue model, and more.

    Cloud Tailor – Company Highlights

    Startup Name Cloud Tailor
    Founding Team Susmitha Lakkakula, Rudra Pratap, Mahesh Patel
    Headquarters Hyderabad
    Industry D2C Fashion
    Website cloudtailor.in

    Cloud Tailor – About and Vision
    Cloud Tailor – Industry Details
    Cloud Tailor – Idea & Inspiration
    Cloud Tailor – Product and USP
    Cloud Tailor – Founders and Team
    Cloud Tailor – Name, Tagline and Logo
    Cloud Tailor – Business Model & Revenue Model
    Cloud Tailor – Launch and Marketing Strategies
    Cloud Tailor – Challenges Faced
    Cloud Tailor – Achievements & Milestones
    Cloud Tailor – Funding
    Cloud Tailor – Advisors & Mentors
    Cloud Tailor – Competitors
    Cloud Tailor – Tools used to run startup
    Cloud Tailor – Future Plans
    Cloud Tailor – FAQs

    Cloud Tailor – About and Vision

    Cloud Tailor is a D2C mobile app that enables Personalized fashion styling, fashion visualization, recommendations, order placement, tracking, and fulfillment. Cloud Tailor’s unique asset-light ‘Online + Offline’ global fulfillment business model ensures the best quality and price outcome for personalized fashion in guaranteed timelines.

    Vision: To be the ‘One Stop Shop’ for all personalized fashion choices for global women.

    Mission: To simplify and enhance personalized fashion choices for global women.

    “We as founders believe that we have the right mix of technology skills, marketing focus, idea intensity talent, prior startup experience to make Cloud Tailor the No. 1 ‘top of the mind’ brand for personalized fashion across the globe” says Susmitha Lakkakula, Founder, Cloud Tailor

    Cloud Tailor – Industry Details

    Cloud Tailor Industry
    Ladieswear Fashion – Market Size

    The Women’s wear industry is a 185 Billion USD valued business per annum globally. The correct estimates of the Personalized fashion industry are not available since it is a completely fragmented market and there are no organized players in the market now.

    As per the founder’s discussions with multiple fashion experts and market leaders in this domain, the team has estimated the market in India to be a minimum of INR 8000 Crores per annum driven primarily by domestic consumption. The overseas market order fulfillment in India is an extremely under-served market accounting for only 2% of all organized personalized fashion orders. There is a huge scope to present a brand and offer timely dispatches in the best possible price points to overseas customers for their personalized fashion requirements.

    Also Read: How is AI being used in Fashion Industry

    Cloud Tailor – Idea & Inspiration

    The primary inspiration was the founders’ constant lookout for market segment gaps and under-served requirements. They excel at building an organized online solution to cater to offline requirements in society. The founding team saw a huge gap in the ‘Professional Services’ for personalized fashion, as Susmitha Lakkakula, and her husband, Rudra Pratap, faced a lot of issues trying to place orders to tailors, following up, and trying to reach them over the phone and in-person for updates and progress. The duo decided that it was time for someone to simplify this workflow and accept the challenge. Thus Cloud Tailor was born.

    The first set of validators of Cloud Tailor were Industry veterans such as Mr. M C Cariappa (President, Marketing and Sales, Jockey India) and 10 boutique owners with whom the team did the idea-bounce back. All of them immediately suggested that they get started on the startup. Since they conceptualized the initial business plan and structure in Covid times in March 2020, Susmitha had to take police permission for vehicle pass to go around to meet fabric and sewing machine traders, talk to cutting masters, tailors, and other intermediaries to understand how the personalized fashion industry functions and the crucial cogs in the machinery. Susmitha went about doing online courses on fashion on Udemy and other portals. Rudra went about bringing the first UX and UI mobile app screens to life by personally sketching them. He then digitized them and hired a Flutter developer – Tarun Dak from Ahmedabad to bring them to life on Google Cloud, Firebase DB, and Flutter.

    The first MVP app version in flutter was made live in the Play Store and iOS store in January 2021. To scale it to the next level, the team sought to onboard Mahesh Patel, who was then the National Head for eCommerce and online sales at Jockey India. He introduced Susmitha to M C Cariappa who was his boss. Mahesh loved the idea and scale possible and joined Cloud Tailor as Co-founder. M C Cariappa was the 1st full-time advisor to join Cloud Tailor.

    The team decided to fire on all cylinders and put their personal savings together to get the professionally designed app UX and UI did by Lollypop.design. When Anil Reddy (Founder, Lollypop) listened to their vision and idea, he immediately agreed to help them build the best UI app for Cloud Tailor and also offered to personally design the ‘Cloud Tailor’ logo. The current app in development at its App and Cloud Development center in Hyderabad is being built around the researched UX and UI designs made by the same team at Lollypop.design, who had made Myntra, Paytm money, housing.com, Swiggy, Vodafone idea, and the Aditya Birla app among many others.

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    Cloud Tailor – Product and USP

    USP and innovation:

    1. Only tech-enabled personalized fashion brand in India – Serving global women customers from India
    2. Cloud Tailor app (Beta is live on Android and iOS) is the only mobile app that has a full fashion styling, learning, social sharing, order placement, tracking, and rewards program
    3. It fulfills global orders for ‘Any Style – Any Design’ – Exclusively for women’s wear
    4. The entire backend fulfillment and stitching/shipping also happens through the ‘Cloud Tailor Operations app’ and browser applications at its dedicated Cloud Tailor Fulfillment Centers
    5. ML-based recommendation and upselling engine within the app
    6. VR visualization of dresses styled by the customer or by the fashion designer within the app
    7. Cloud Tailor has been running the Hyderabad Fulfilment Center for the last 5 months (as of Oct 2021) and is now scaling the Fulfilment center operations to Gurgaon, Kolkata, Bengaluru, Mumbai, Pune, Chennai, and Ludhiana in the next 4 months
    8. This gives a never-before option to Cloud Tailor’s overseas customers to choose the city for the styling and stitching of their fashion
    9. It is currently serving customers in 4 countries (US, Australia, UK, and Singapore) apart from India
    10. The startup has a full-time team of app and cloud developers at its Hyderabad Software development office
    11. Cloud Tailor is guided by a well-accomplished team of advisors from Jockey, Amazon, Geodis, GATI, and TESCO Retail in this rapid scale-up process
    12. The Cloud Tailor customer app has been made by the lollypop.design team which has made the Myntra, Paytm money, Vodafone India mobile, housing.com, and Swiggy apps. bringing vast industry expertise into its app
    Cloud Tailor

    Key problems Cloud Tailor is solving:

    • One-Stop-Shop for all personalized fashion – No more boutique hopping for different categories of personalized fashion
    • Professional and Trained staff – Customer-centric app and offline interactions
    • Tech powered organized solution in the organized boutique market across the world
    • Overseas customers – One Stop Shop (aka mobile app) for all their personalized requirements
    • Customers can now select their home – city (for local styling cues and nuances) for all stitching orders while being based in any country globally
    • Guaranteed delivery dates – No more follow up with the tailor and No more repeated calls and anxiety
    • On app fabric options to select and tag to the orders
    • Huge opportunity for job creation for its on-app Fashion Designers (It limits to NIFT, NID, and Pearl Academy graduates and alumni for now)
    • Dedicated ‘Fashion Designer’ for Cloud Tailor Gold club members
    • ML-based recommendations of wardrobe shortlisting of styles – Shorten order decision cycles
    • Save all measurements on the app and tag them to the profile – Checkouts will now be a breeze
    • Doorstep measurements option in serviced pin codes for that exact fit as required
    • Lifetime free alterations for its orders – No more hunting for alteration tailors
    • Social Styling options – Share your designs and images on the Cloud Tailor app – Tag them on social as well – Let someone else order your style – Earn redeemable buttons
    • On app ‘Loyalty Program’ – Cloud Tailor Buttons – Redeemable on order value
    • Offer a professional work environment with good benefits to its staff

    Cloud Tailor – Founders and Team

    Susmitha Lakkakula, Rudra Pratap and Mahesh Patel are the co-founders of Cloud Tailor.

    Susmitha is leading the company formation, strategy, USP, and product features. Rudra handles the mobile app and cloud part of the work and also the offline expansion and the details. Rudra and Mahesh Patel are friends and have known each other for the last 14 years Mahesh has a sharp business acumen has come from a business family in Gujarat. He is an expert at going to market, branding, online sales, and business partnerships at a global level. He immediately liked the idea to join as a co-founder when Susmitha and Rudra both had gone for his housewarming in Bengaluru in January 2021.

    Cloud Tailor Co-founders
    Cloud Tailor – Founding Team

    Susmitha Lakkakula | Founder & Full Time into Cloud Tailor

    • Masters in software engineering: BITS Pilani (Software Engineering)
    • EPBM – IIM Kolkata
    • MSc – Information Science: Osmania University
    • Work Experience: Wipro Technologies/ Quantum/ Dell/ Quest (Total 19 Yrs)

    Rudra Pratap | Co-Founder, Cloud Tailor

    • Masters in software engineering: BITS Pilani (Software Engineering)
    • EPBM – IIM Kolkata
    • BCA – Utkal University
    • Diploma in Advertising and PR: NiA
    • Work Experience: Wipro Technologies/ Reliance / Aliens Real Estate/ Cosyn/ raksan (Over 19 years experience)

    Mahesh Patel | Co-Founder, Cloud Tailor

    • Bachelors in Hotel Management, Sunway College University, Kuala Lumpur
    • Executive MBA, NIMT
    • Work Experience: Jockey (Page Industries), Shop CJ, Reliance, Spencers, Aditya Birla Retail

    Cloud Tailor Team

    Currently, Cloud Tailor has a total of 8 Full-time employees and 4 part-time employees. The founders are very selective in hiring as they need to be sure that the person will be able to don multiple hats when required, is flexible to adapt to a startup, and think like an entrepreneur when it comes to the customer.

    The founding team had initially booked ‘bookmytailor’ as the name of the brand and also got it Trademarked. Eventually, they realized that it did not signify the Technology depth of the startup and also the aspect of workflow happening virtually and seamlessly. Hence they brainstormed for over 3 days and found that ‘Cloud Tailor’ was an apt depiction of what they intended to be perceived as by their customers. It also had a nice ‘Cloud’ connotation to it which signifies both the ‘Cloud virtual part’ as well as ‘the cloud nine’ significance which meant satisfaction and happiness.

    When they approached Lollypop team, Anil himself volunteered to design the logo. There were multiple iterations and logo designs they ran through over 45-60 days and eventually zeroed in on the one. The founders went ahead and trademarked the ‘Cloud Tailor’ word mark and this has been registered to as well.

    Cloud Tailor Logo

    The tagline: ‘You Design, We Stitch’ also signifies the importance of the customer in the whole process and also that the customer is a part of the whole cycle. Mita, Rajesh, and Anil from the Lollypop team played a crucial role in sharing options and also shortlisting the logo options down to the last 3.

    Illustration of various Cloud Tailor Designed 

    Cloud Tailor – Business Model & Revenue Model

    Cloud Tailor offers a simple and reliable tech-based solution for personalized fashion solutions for global women.

    Cloud Tailor Business Model
    Cloud Tailor Revenue Model

    Cloud Tailor’s revenue model is driven by 4 sources:

    • Hyper Personalized Fashion: Style – Order – Track – Socialize. Repeat. ML-based recommendation engine
    • Ready to Fit: The Tatkal version of ‘Personalized Fashion’. Tag your saved measurements >> Select ‘Ready to Fit’ SKU >> Place Order (dispatch in 24 hours)
    • Accessories: Select from the hand-picked accessories to match your fashion: Clutches, Tote Bags, Belts, Handbags, and many more
    • B2B Clothing Line / Personalized Fashion Outsourcing: Dedicated styling/stitching unit setup to service other brands/boutiques anywhere in the globe

    Since the startup operates across all styles and design segments in women’s wear, each order is unique and thus its prices depend on the order type, the accessories, the work and time required to complete the order.

    Cloud Tailor – Launch and Marketing Strategies

    The team at Cloud Tailor used WhatsApp marketing and created small flyers on Canva and posted them in the gated community Whatsapp groups. They had their first order on the 2nd day of the first post. After that, the startup had a constant stream of orders and also because the team generated a lot of goodwill with the experience of their first critical set of customers whom they took special care of.

    They also did a small budget Google Analytics campaign for the US, Australia, and the Middle East to place its brand amongst the target group there. Apart from Whatsapp, they also used Facebook marketing with boost posts. Initially, the team also ran branding runs on the boosting on FB and Instagram.

    “We will still attribute our earliest quick success to the importance of closed WhatsApp groups of residents/ladies for maximum impact” – Susmitha added.

    Cloud Tailor hired a social media agency in July 2021 and like any online marketing hack, social media planning takes time and patience. The startup plans to do Customer Testimonial reels, Live comments, user stories, and process reels on how Cloud Tailor’s app enables easier and faster order design and placement. It Social calendar is also made and executed by the social team. Another important thing that the startup did, was to hire Social media interns from MBA colleges who would track the trends and act as growth hackers for the startup.

    The startup is in talks to use popular apps with specific partnerships for coupons and branding. It is currently running a tight ship and is diligent in its spend for the agency and interns process. The startup would enhance the team strength and build more branded content in due course in a planned manner.

    Cloud Tailor has grown mostly by customer word of mouth and repeat sales – since there is no other brand around who provides a similar service and a mobile app. Hence its best ROI was in spending time with its existing customers and nurturing their trust to be able to build credible support and core referral and brand ambassador group.

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    Cloud Tailor – Challenges Faced

    1. Being Software Engineers by career and training: The founding team learned basics of fashion, garments, styling, sketching, fabrics, machinery, repairs, manpower requirements
    2. Learning the fashion domain intricacies and nuances during COVID time with an infant at home and pre-teen
    3. Placement and ROI of fulfillment centers
    4. Overseas cities where they can scale for orders
    5. Differentiation factor communication to customers
    6. Keep increasing repeat order comfort with existing customers

    Cloud Tailor – Advisors & Mentors

    Cloud Tailor
    Cloud Tailor – Advisors

    Cloud Tailor – Achievements & Milestones

    Cloud Tailor’s biggest achievement – Highest Order Value from Single customer so far in Sep 2021: Rs. 51000 (From a repeat customer in the US, Houston). This shows the potential and scale the startup can grow to.

    Some of the Current Milestones achieved by Cloud Tailor are –

    1. Beta versions of Android and iOS apps LIVE
    2. Hyderabad Fulfillment Center Operationally break-even within 4 months of commencement
    3. M C Cariappa, President (Jockey – Page Industries) joined as a full-time advisor
    4. Abhishek Dwivedi, Head (TESCO – Soft Development) joined as a full-time advisor
    5. Harry Lagad, Regional Director (GEODIS) joined as a full-time advisor
    6. Chirag Bhuva, Leader – Asia Pac, Amazon Business Customer Services joined as a full-time advisor
    7. Started Software Development Office in Financial District, Hyderabad with 2 Full-Time Developers on payroll
    8. Full System Architecture on AWS with API interfaces and ML-based systems designed and approved by the team – Development in progress
    9. Achieved 70% customer repeat orders every month due to the convenience
    10. Average Order value in Aug 2021: Rs. 3000

    Cloud Tailor – Funding

    The team has bootstrapped Cloud Tailor through the current scaling stage and is currently raising funds to scale it faster, build the app and cloud development teams, set up 2 company-owned fulfillment centers and 6 partner-owned-operated fulfillment centers.

    Cloud Tailor – Competitors

    Cloud Tailor is an only tech-enabled personalized fashion brand in India – Serving global women customers from India.

    Cloud Tailor – Tools used to run startup

    Few tools which Cloud Tailor uses to run the startup –

    1. Zoho books – accounting
    2. Canva – posts design
    3. AWS – Stateless Architecture – Lambda, EC2, Cognito, Jitsu, Pinpoint, Postgres, API Gateway
    4. Knowlarity: IVRS
    5. Razorpay Payment Gateway
    6. Razorpay Payroll

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    Cloud Tailor – Future Plans

    Short term goals [end 2022]:

    1. 1 million MAU
    2. INR 2 Crores in ARR / GMV
    3. Stable Ver 3 of Cloud Tailor app and backend operations apps
    4. Fulfillment centers in 4 cities
    5. Brand Interaction Signature kiosks/centers in 4 cities
    6. 3 B2B partners for ‘managed backend fulfillment’
    Cloud Tailor Projected Growth

    Long term goals [by 2025]:

    1. 10 million MAU
    2. INR 100 Crores in ARR
    3. VR View of fashion styled
    4. Fulfillment centers in 7 cities
    5. Aggregated Partner operations in 7 Tier 2 cities
    6. Brand Interaction Signature kiosks/centers in all 7 cities
    7. 10 B2B partners for ‘managed backend fulfillment’

    Cloud Tailor – FAQs

    What is Cloud Tailor?

    Cloud Tailor is a D2C mobile app that enables Personalized fashion styling, fashion visualization, recommendations, order placement, tracking, and fulfillment. Its unique asset-light ‘Online + Offline’ global fulfillment business model ensures the best quality and price outcome for personalized fashion in guaranteed timelines.

    Who founded Cloud Tailor?

    Susmitha Lakkakula, Rudra Pratap, and Mahesh Patel are the co-founders of Cloud Tailor.

    Is Cloud Tailor funded?

    No. Cloud Tailor is a bootstrapped startup.

    What is the tagline of Cloud Tailor?

    Cloud Tailor’s tagline – ‘You Design, We Stitch’ signifies the importance of the customer in the whole process and also that the customer is a part of the whole cycle.

  • List Of Angel Investors In Bangalore [With Contact]

    Bangalore, the silicon valley of India, is one of the most famous Indian cities for entrepreneurs. In this post, we have listed some of the most prominent angel investors in Bangalore whom you can reach out to. You will get to know about their background and the sectors they like to invest in. You can contact these angel investors in Bangalore via their LinkedIn and AngelList profile.

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    List of Angel Investors in Bangalore – With Contact

    1. Abhishek Gupta
    2. Binny Bansal
    3. Phanindra Sama
    4. Krishna Jha
    5. Sameer Brij Verma
    6. Ganesh Krishnan
    7. Aprameya Radhakrishna
    8. Praveen Gupta
    9. Rajeev Krishnan
    10. Amit Gupta
    11. Shamir Karkal
    12. Srinivas Anumolu
    13. Ananda Kallugadde
    14. Gaurav Lochan
    15. Nagendra Bhanuprakash
    16. Brij Bhasin
    17. Pradeep Reddy Kamasani
    18. Abishek Surendran
    19. Rutvik Doshi
    20. Toby Ruckert
    21. Nilesh Trivedi
    22. Sachin Garg
    23. Mark Straub
    24. K. Srikrishna
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    List of Angel Investors in Bangalore – With Contact

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    Abhishek Gupta

    Contact: AngelList | LinkedIn

    Markets Interested: SaaS, E-Commerce, Application, Platforms, Machine Learning, Big Data, Education, Developer APIs,Designers, Advertising, Music
    Investments: 135 Tech Labs Pvt., AskCake, bluegape.com, bottr.me, DataWeave, FlixStock

    Abhishek Gupta- Angel investors in Bangalore
    Abhishek Gupta- Angel investors in Bangalore

    Abhishek Gupta did his engineering from IIT, Varanasi in 1999. After completing engineering, Abhishek joined Oracle as an Associate Consultant. After working there for 4 years, he joined GlobalLogic. He then switched to a new company after working at GlobalLogic for almost 4 years and joined Lime Labs India as VP Technology. Later in 2011, he became the Head of Accelerator at TLabs. Now, Abhishek Gupta is the COO at TLabs and also serving as a Board member of MintM Inc. and GradeUp. Moreover, he likes to work as an angel investor for startups.

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    Binny Bansal

    Contact: AngelList | LinkedIn

    Markets Interested: Technology, Resource management, EdTech, Media
    Investments: Ather Energy, Grey Orange Robotics,InShorts, Unacademy

    Binny Bansal- Angel Investor in Bangalore & founder of Flipkart
    Binny Bansal – Angel Investor in Bangalore | founder of Flipkart

    One of the most famous names in the Indian entrepreneurial world, Binny Bansal started off at Sarnoff as a Software Engineer in 2005 after completing engineering from IIT, Delhi. In 2007, he switched to Amazon at the same position. However, after working there for 9 months, he along with his colleague, Sachin Bansal, came up with a new idea. They duo founded Flipkart. Binny recently left the company and co-founded another startup called X to 10x Technologies. Binny Bansal also serves as an advisor to many companies. Binny Bansal has invested in a lot of Indian startups as an angel investor.

    Phanindra Sama

    Contact: AngelList | LinkedIn

    Markets Interested: Consumer Internet, Enterprise Software, Mobile SaaS
    Investments: Belong, Betaout, DailyObjects, Drivezy, Fyle, galleri5

    Phanindra Sama- Angel Investors in Bangalore & founder of redBus
    Phanindra Sama- Angel Investors in Bangalore & founder of redBus

    Phanindra did his engineering from BITS, Pilani. He then started working as a design engineer at ST Microelectronics. After working 2 years, he joined another company called Texas Instruments at the same position. In 2006, Phanindra Sama co-founded redBus and served as the CEO for 8 years. Phanindra now serves as the Chief Innovation Officer for Government of Telangana.

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    Krishna Jha

    Contact: AngelList | LinkedIn

    Markets Interested: Mobile Consumer Internet, SaaS, Enterprise Software, Productivity Software, FinTech
    Investments: AdPushup, Apptimize, Kwench Global Technologies, PrettySecrets, ReTargeter

    Krishna Jha - Angel Investors in Bangalore
    Krishna Jha – Angel Investors in Bangalore

    Krishna Jha completed his education in Mumbai from St. Xavier’s College. He founded ITFinity Solutions Pvt. Ltd. in 1999. He then became the head of OnMobile and served in that capacity for almost 2 years. Krishna Jha now serves as the President of Telnet ventures.

    Sameer Brij Verma

    Contact: AngelList | LinkedIn

    Markets Interested: Enterprise Software, Big Data, Cloud Computing & Infrastructure, Energy Storage, PaaS, Security, SMS Databases, Developer APIs.
    Investments: Archer Technologies, Bira 91, Buildsupply, CloudByte, Dhama Innovations, Eband Communications

    Sameer Brij Verma - Angel Investors in Bangalore
    Sameer Brij Verma – Angel Investors in Bangalore

    Sameer did his engineering from Illinois Institute of Technology. He started his career as an engineering intern at Spectranet. He went on to do many internships in various companies in the engineering field. Sameer then became the founder and CEO of Breakthrough Capital and now serves as the board member and investor at many companies including Zolo, Jumbotail, Hasura, Myupchar, and Unacademy.

    Ganesh Krishnan

    Contact: AngelList | LinkedIn

    Markets Interested: Consumer Internet, Healthcare, SaaS
    Investments: Must See India, Avagmah, bookadda.com, Browntape, delyver.com

    Ganesh Krishnan - Angel Investors in Bangalore
    Ganesh Krishnan – Angel Investors in Bangalore

    Ganesh Krishnan completed his engineering from Delhi and later pursued an MBA from IIM. He served as the CEO of Bharti Airtel in 1998. Ganesh is the founder of Portea.com and TutorVista.

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    Aprameya Radhakrishna

    Contact: AngelList | LinkedIn

    Markets Interested: E-Commerce, Online Travel Taxis, Consumer Internet, Food Tech
    Investments: DailyNinja, Fisdom, Unacademy, TapChief, Vogo Rentals

    Aprameya Radhakrishna- Angel Investors in Bangalore
    Aprameya Radhakrishna- Angel Investors in Bangalore

    Aprameya completed his engineering from National Institute of Technology, Karnataka. He started working as Software Engineer at Infosys. But in 2006, Radhakrishna decided to study further and joined IIM for his MBA. In 2008, he began working at Jones Lang LaSalle as the head of business development. After working for 2 years, he founded TaxiForSure in 2010. He remained the director of TaxiForSure till 2015. Now, he’s more into angel investing and also founded another startup called Vokal.

    Praveen Gupta

    Contact: AngelList | LinkedIn

    Markets Interested: Social Commerce, Healthtech, SaaS, IoT, eCommerce, Wearable Technologies, CPG Technology, Big Data, Real Estate, FinTech, FoodTech
    Investments: Brilliant, ezCater, Milk Mantra Dairy, Planetary Resources, Adarza BioSystems, Asiatic, Biscuit Labs

    Praveen Gupta - Angel Investors in Bangalore
    Praveen Gupta – Angel Investors in Bangalore

    Praveen completed his engineering from BITS, Pilani. He later joined IIM to do his PGDM. In the year 2000, he founded Cross-Tab Marketing Services where he serves as a Director now. In 2013, Praveen Gupta founded Tallenge Inc. and serves as the CEO.

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    Rajeev Krishnan

    Contact: AngelList | LinkedIn

    Markets Interested: Clean Technology, Consumer Internet, Enterprise Software, Healthtech, Biotechnology, Fintech
    Investments: Absentia VR, Appvigil, Belita, DailyNinja, Effie, Exploride, FinoZen

    Rajeev Krishnan - Angel Investors in Bangalore
    Rajeev Krishnan – Angel Investors in Bangalore

    Rajeev Krishnan is an Engineer from National Institute of Technology and later did PGDM from IIM. Before switching his career, Rajeev worked as a Technical Consultant at National Instruments. He then joined the same company and was promoted rapidly. Rajeev now serves as the Country Manager for MTS System Corporation. Rajeev has seed funded many startups.

    Amit Gupta

    Contact: AngelList | LinkedIn

    Markets Interested: Clean Technology, Consumer Internet, Enterprise Software, Healthtech, Media, e-Commerce
    Investments: Admission Table, Fleksy, Get@, Hate2Wait, HealthifyMe, Inc42 Media

    Amit Gupta - Angel Investors in Bangalore
    Amit Gupta – Angel Investors in Bangalore

    After graduating from IIT, Kanpur, Amit Gupta joined Herman Industries as a software engineer. He later went on to launch InMobi as a co-founder and is now working with Yulu, the cycle rental startup.

    Shamir Karkal

    Contact: AngelList | LinkedIn

    Markets Interested: Consumer Internet, Enterprise Software, Mobile Healthcare, Fintech Industry
    Investments: ChartIQ, ClearFactr, EarnUp, inDinero, MPOWER Financing, Nowait

    Shamir Karkal- Angel Investors in Bangalore
    Shamir Karkal- Angel Investors in Bangalore

    After completing his MBA from Carnegie Mellon University, Shamir Karkal joined McKinsey & Co. as a Management Consultant. He then did many high profile jobs before co-founding Sila in 2018.

    Srinivas Anumolu

    Contact: AngelList | LinkedIn

    Markets Interested: Consumer Internet, Mobile Healthcare, Small and Medium Businesses, Healthtech
    Investments: bigbasket.com, bluestone.com, bookadda.com, delyver.com, DocsApp

    Srinivas Anumolu - Angel Investors in Bangalore
    Srinivas Anumolu – Angel Investors in Bangalore

    After completing his engineering from IIT Madras, Srinivas Anumolu joined IIM Calcutta to do his PGDM. After completing his studies from IIM in 1987, he went to UCLA to pursue an MBA in finance. Srinivas is the Co-founder of TutorVista and Elance (now Upwork). He also served as the director of Amazon India in 2005. All of the startups he has funded in are doing exceptionally well.

    Ananda Kallugadde

    Contact: AngelList | LinkedIn

    Markets Interested: Consumer Internet, Enterprise Software, Mobile Healthcare, Edtech
    Investments: Cheapesto, iKaaz Mobile Payments, inthree, KleverKid, LoudCell

    Ananda Kallugadde - Angel Investors in Bangalore
    Ananda Kallugadde – Angel Investors in Bangalore

    Ananda Kallugadde completed his engineering in 1995 from National Institute of Technology. His first job was at Ernst & Young LLP. Later, he worked at a few companies before he helped co-found NeoBytes in 2006. Ananda now works as an Advisor for many companies.

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    Gaurav Lochan

    Contact: AngelList | LinkedIn

    Markets Interested: Music, Healthcare, Education
    Investments: Aisle, AppVirality, HasGeek, Localize, Springboard, Zycada Networks

    Gaurav Lochan - Angel Investors in Bangalore
    Gaurav Lochan – Angel Investors in Bangalore

    Gaurav Lochan did his Masters in Computer Science from the University of Southern California. He then joined Microsoft as a Software Engineer. In 2012, Gaurav Lochan helped co-found BeetRoute. However, after one year, he joined Flipkart as an Engineering Manager. Gaurav is a Software Engineer at Facebook at present.

    Nagendra Bhanuprakash

    Contact: AngelList | LinkedIn

    Markets Interested: Clean Technology, Consumer Internet, Enterprise Software, Mobile Healthcare
    Investments: Able Lending, Bring Me That, Instamotor, Mosaic

    Nagendra Bhanuprakash - Angel Investors in Bangalore
    Nagendra Bhanuprakash – Angel Investors in Bangalore

    Prior to launching Strumsoft as a co-founder, Nagendra did his MBA from Massachusetts and worked as a Program Manager at Comverse. He is now the VP of Engineering at Synchronoss Technologies.

    Brij Bhasin

    Contact: AngelList | LinkedIn

    Markets Interested: Consumer Internet, Enterprise Software, Media, Mobile Healthcare, SaaS, Impact Investing
    Investments: Flintobox, HackerEarth, Little Eye Labs, Pokkt

    Brij Bhasin - Angel Investors in Bangalore | founder of Boost Tech
    Brij Bhasin – Angel Investors in Bangalore | founder of Boost Tech

    University of Minnesota is where Brij Bhasin completed his engineering and also worked as Research Engineer for 2 years. He later worked as a Product Manager at Pramata Corporation for 6 years. In 2011, Brij Bhasin launched Boost Tech. He left the company after a year and did many high profile jobs in the next 3 years. Brij Bhasin is an Angel Investor and Board Member of multiple companies.

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    Pradeep Reddy Kamasani

    Contact: AngelList | Linkedin

    Markets Interested: Healthcare, Tech, Edtech, Marketing, SaaS, Logistic, Event management, Automobile
    Investments: Explara, Spareshub, Edurev, Ahataxis

    Pradeep Reddy Kamasani - Angel Investors in Bangalore
    Pradeep Reddy Kamasani – Angel Investors in Bangalore

    Pradeep Reddy Kamasani has nearly 2 decades of IT, Business, Sales & Marketing experience in North America, Europe, and Asia. He has been active in the startup ecosystem since 2014. Pradeep is currently the CEO of HunterTech, an IT Services Company based in Bangalore. Pradeep is the founder of 2 startups in addition to being an Angel Investor and Advisor to Edtech, Healthcare, and Tech startups. He is an advisor to Edurev and BeYouPlus. Pradeep is helping small businesses scale to an enterprise level with his Growth Strategy, Marketing Automation, Digital, and Content Marketing Skills. He is Hubspot Inbound Marketing certified.

    Abishek Surendran

    Contact: AngelList | LinkedIn

    Markets Interested: Consumer Internet, Enterprise Software, Mobile Healthcare, Big Data, Computer Vision, Artificial Intelligence
    Investments: IQLECT, LensBricks, Mad Street Den, Riversilica

    Abishek Surendran - Angel Investors in Bangalore
    Abishek Surendran – Angel Investors in Bangalore

    After completing his engineering from VESIT in 2004, Abishek joined Tata Consultancy Services as a security consultant where he remained for 5 years. In 2009, he went to School of Investment and Banking and switched to Intellecap as a Senior Associate. In 2013, Abishek Surendran completed his MBA from IIM and interned at an investment company. He then joined Exfinity Venture Partners as President and stayed for almost 4 years. Abishek is a Partner at pi Ventures.

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    Rutvik Doshi

    Contact: AngelList | LinkedIn

    Markets Interested: Mobile Enterprise Software, Advertising, SaaS, Cloud Computing, Edtech
    Investments: eDreams Edusoft, SysCloud, Unbxd, Aasaanjobs

    Rutvik Doshi - Angel Investors in Bangalore
    Rutvik Doshi – Angel Investors in Bangalore

    Rutvik completed his engineering from IIT, Kharagpur. He joined CA Technologies as a Software Engineer straight out of college. He worked there for a long time in many positions. He then decided to pursue an MBA from INSEAD in 2006. After completing his MBA in 2007, he joined Google as a Product Manager and worked there for 3.5 years. He was the CEO of Tagge.com in 2010. He now serves as the Managing Director of Inventus Capital India.

    Toby Ruckert

    Contact: AngelList | LinkedIn

    Markets Interested: Unified Communications, Social Media, Cloud Computing, Big Data, Social CRM, Advertising Platforms, e-commerce, SaaS, B2B, Deep Information Technology, Disruptive Models
    Investments: TVInfo.in, Advanced Millennium Technologies, Viva-Lite, Wellness-Shop.com

    Toby Ruckert - Angel Investors in Bangalore
    Toby Ruckert – Angel Investors in Bangalore

    Toby Ruckert found SysOp in 1992 and also worked as a Software Tester at IBM at the same time. After that, he became a Board Member at Viva-Lite International Ltd. where he served for 17 years. During that time, he co-found AMT in 2004. Toby Ruckert is the Board Member of many organisations and is the founder and CEO of UIB, which he launched in 2014. Along with a deep interest in business, Toby likes to play music and went to a piano school in 1997.

    Nilesh Trivedi

    Contact: AngelList | LinkedIn

    Markets Interested: Enterprise Software, Big Data, Fintech
    Investments: mobileGullak, Pixel2Desk, Protomake , RevOs, Skyware, ToneTag, VendorMach

    Nilesh Trivedi - Angel Investors in Bangalore
    Nilesh Trivedi – Angel Investors in Bangalore

    After doing a diploma in Business Management, Nilesh worked at Nortal as a System Analyst. He found a tech startup in 2000. He later joined Cisco as a Software Engineer. Nilesh Trivedi did an MBA in 2012 and became an Advisor to many companies. In 2015, he founded another company called IOTLab. Nilesh is an angel investor for many startups.

    Sachin Garg

    Contact: AngelList | LinkedIn

    Markets Interested: Recruitment, E-commerce, Media, Tech Industry
    Investments: iimjobs, Overcart, upRack, ZAPR Media Labs

    Sachin Garg - Angel Investors in Bangalore
    Sachin Garg – Angel Investors in Bangalore

    Sachin Garg is an Engineering dropout who founded his first startup in 1997. He was a Software Product Consultant at TCS, India, and Canada. In 2006, Sachin joined Yale University to do an MBA. After completing his MBA, he became a founding member of GSF Accelerator & Investments. While working on the startup, he also worked as the Product & Business head at Amazon.com. He left both the companies and founded another startup called upRack.com, an e-commerce platform. In 2013, he launched another startup called REXPROP, which was later acquired by BroEx. Sachin now works as a Product and Business Consultant for various companies.

    Mark Straub

    Contact: AngelList | LinkedIn

    Markets Interested: Impact Investing, CleanTech Industry, Mobile Social Recruiting, Emerging Markets, Healthtech, Information Technology, Mobile Health
    Investments: Babajob, EyeNetra, Kopo Kopo

    Mark Straub - Angel Investors in Bangalore
    Mark Straub – Angel Investors in Bangalore

    After completing his education from the University of Virginia in 2004, Mark Straub joined Banc of America Securities as an Analyst. After 2 years, he joined Draper Fisher Jurvetson Growth Fund. In 2011, Mark became the Director of Khosla Impact and worked there for 7 years. In 2017, Mark Straub co-founded Smile Identity.

    K. Srikrishna

    Contact: AngelList | LinkedIn

    Markets Interested: Mobile Consumer Internet, Enterprise Software
    Investments: Althea Systems, IndianStage

    K. Srikrishna - Angel Investors in Bangalore
    K. Srikrishna – Angel Investors in Bangalore

    K. Srikrishna started his career in 1988 as a Marketing Manager at National Semiconductor Corporation after doing his Masters and Ph.D. in Engineering from University of California. He was the President and COO of Microcon in 1996. He held several high profile jobs till 2008 when he founded Zebu Group. Srikrishna was the CEO of Zebu Group and became Executive Director of National Entrepreneurship Network in 2011. In 2015, he co-founded Zebu Games and now serves as its CEO.

    This was our list of Angel Investors in Bangalore. If you are an investor, connect with us at shubham@startuptalky.com to get featured in the list.

    FAQs

    What is meant by angel investors?

    An angel investor is an individual who invests in emerging and promising startups. They provide funding for a startup in exchange for an ownership stake in the company.

    Who is the founder of Indian Angel Network?

    Padmaja Ruparel and Raman Roy are Co-Founders of Indian Angel Network.

    How does an angel investor gets repaid?

    Angel investors expect to get their money back within a fix straight schedule. The tenure ranges from 5 to 7 years with an annualized internal rate of return (“IRR”) of 20% to 40%.

  • Paxcom: Digital Solution provider for analytics & eCommerce business strategy

    Company Profile is an initiative by StartupTalky to publish verified information on different startups and organizations. The content in this post has been approved by Paxcom.

    Paxcom’s technology solution consists of ML/AI-powered actionable insights on Product Content, On-Shelf Availability, Reviews & Rating analysis, Share of search, Sales, and Promotions. Daily, Paxcom analyzes multi-crore ad spends, and over 1.4 lakh products across 148 platforms, 450+ pin codes, and 11 languages to provide seller and location-specific insights to aid their clients’ eCommerce growth.

    StartupTalky interviewed Mr. Punit Sindhwani (Founder & CEO, Paxcom) to get insights into the startup story and the organization’s roadmap. In this article you will discover how Pacom started, its business model, marketing strategies, and more.

    Paxcom – Company Highlights

    Startup Name Paxcom
    CEO Punit Sindhwani
    Headquarters Gurgaon
    Industry Ecommerce
    Website paxcom.ai

    Paxcom – About
    Paxcom – Industry Details
    Paxcom – Idea & Inspiration
    Paxcom – Product/Services and USP
    Paxcom – Founders and Team
    Paxcom – Name Meaning & Logo
    Paxcom – Business Model and Revenue Model
    Paxcom – Launch & Marketing Strategies
    Paxcom – Challenges Faced
    Paxcom – Operating Locations
    Paxcom – Funding
    Paxcom – Tools used to run startup
    Paxcom – Future Plans
    Paxcom – FAQs

    Paxcom – About

    Paxcom’s eCommerce solutions consist of a robust set of proprietary (or cutting edge or ML/AI) technology solutions backed up by a strong suite of eCommerce services that provide end-to-end assistance for businesses looking to expand their online presence. This startup is well-known for its digital solutions that cover all aspects of day-to-day eCommerce operations and assist brands and sellers in improving their overall online performance.

    Paxcom’s cutting-edge AI solutions can collect and analyze data from all eCommerce channels, across multiple geographies to deliver actionable insights for improving digital shelf share, stock availability, competitive pricing, product discoverability, ROIs on marketing spends, placements, and more.

    Its team of eCommerce experts, Data Scientists, Analysts, Content Writers, and Creative Designers can help you launch and optimize Products Price, Promotion, Placement, and growth strategies on the popular eCommerce Sites. Paxcom’s team of experts comes with vast experience across brands, markets, and platforms to ensure that your brand has all the tools to remain ahead of the curve. Paxcom takes pride in working as a partner and an extension of its clients’ own teams to ensure synchronized plans to success.

    Paxcom – Industry Details

    The recent years have seen substantial growth in D2C and digital brands in India, with over 4000 brands having crossed INR 1cr sales on Amazon alone in 2020. While physical formats of retail have been seeing a marked slow-down due to Covid restrictions, eCommerce is growing at the fastest pace. This has led to an increased focus of brands on eCommerce.

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    Paxcom – Idea & Inspiration

    Paxcom’s founding team took its plunge into eCommerce in 2011 through an ambitious foray into omnichannel retail, before amazon.in the marketplace was launched in India. The in-house omnichannel technology that was built, empowered them for seamless growth across their D2C website, 11 physical locations and to be the pioneer in D2C and marketplaces in India. Mirchimart was one of the first few sellers that Amazon onboarded when they started their business in India. They also won the award for being the largest seller in the electronics category on the Flipkart marketplace in 2014.

    This early exposure to e-commerce enabled the founders to recognize the sector’s potential in India. Consumer brands were taking their first steps in this direction, but there was a significant gap in understanding of how it worked and how to best use it. There was a need for expert advice and technical solutions to assist brands in accelerating digital sales and making intelligent, data-driven decisions. Paxcom was created to meet this need.

    Kinator, a SaaS-based channel intelligence and data analytics platform, was the first solution developed, allowing their clients to track, measure, and audit their eCommerce presence, and provide insights for day-to-day and strategic decisions.

    Over the last seven years, they have continued to evolve and grow alongside their clients’ ever-changing needs, becoming a full-service strategic solution provider for e-commerce, adding numerous services and software along the way.

    In 2019, Paxcom became a part of the Paymentus group – a leading global paperless electronic billing and payment solution, ranked by Deloitte to be amongst the fastest-growing North American companies.

    The idea came from the opportunity and the gaps the team saw in omnichannel retail as they managed their omnichannel retail business. The initial product idea was well received in their outbound campaign reach and few initial brands became Paxcom’s partners in this journey giving the team an opportunity to learn and mature their offerings.  

    Paxcom – Product/Services and USP

    Paxcom offerings simplify Brand’s online strategy and growth by providing actionable insights derived from mining vast amounts of data points daily, across multiple e-marketplaces and multiple geographies. Brands can quickly see areas of growth opportunities, threats from competitive/upcoming brands and get insights on the effectiveness of different campaigns /products on marketplaces.

    In the fiercely competitive eCommerce space, brands need to be agile and well-informed to achieve success. Paxcom’s eCommerce solutions consist of a robust set of proprietary technology solutions backed up by an experienced services staff to provide end-to-end assistance for businesses looking to expand their online presence. It is well-known for its digital solutions that cover all aspects of day-to-day eCommerce operations. Paxcom’s analytical software tools and expert customer service teams assist brands and sellers in improving the overall online performance. Paxcom’s mission is to simplify and streamline online selling for brands and sellers.

    Paxcom’s USP is a robust suite of technology solutions backed by an experienced team obsessed with a data-driven approach to eCommerce growth for its customers. Its technology solution consists of ML/AI-powered actionable insights on Product Content, On-Shelf Availability, Reviews & Rating analysis, Share of search, Sales, and Promotions. The startup’s Omni-channel technology solution optimizes the supply chain for order-fulfillment and warehouse management while its eCart Solution helps establish eBrand Store and apps. Paxcom team comes with a wealth of experience in establishing omnichannel strategy and solutions have gained valuable insights in managing their own, and some of the large brands, eCommerce growth since 2011.

    1. Channel Intelligence & Analytics – Kinator

    Kinator – Paxcom’s proprietary technology solution can collect and analyze publicly available data from all major platforms, across multiple geographies to deliver Data-Driven Analytics & Insights for Brands selling on multiple e-retailers and marketplaces. Paxcom’s interactive KPI Dashboards & Reports enable data-led decision making on Product Pricing, Promotions, Placement, and more. Kinator helps brands track, measure, audit, and analyze their

    • On-shelf Availability
    • Price, promotions, and Buy Box
    • Ecommerce content
    • Reviews & Ratings
    • Visibility on search results and category
    • Sales across platforms
    • Advertising performance

    2. Services, Strategy & Execution

    Paxcom’s team of eCommerce experts, Data Scientists, Analysts, Content Writers, and Creative Designers can help you launch/optimize Products Price, Promotions, Placement on the popular eCommerce Sites.

    Paxcom’s team of experts comes with vast experience across brands, markets, and platforms to ensure that your brand has all the tools to remain ahead of the curve. The startup takes pride in working as a partner and an extension of its clients’ own teams to ensure synchronized plans to success.​​

    • Ecommerce content and design
    • Business Analytics And Consultation
    • Promotions & Marketing Strategy across platforms
    • Global Support (India, North America, UAE, Africa & Southeast Asia)

    3. AMS & Campaign Management

    Paxcom’s eCommerce experts provide end-to-end campaign management in sync with your Brands goals and objectives across eCommerce platforms. When there are millions of products to choose from, a brand cannot afford to sit back and expect a customer to reach its product. Instead, the product needs to reach its customer. The startup manages multi-million spending across different platforms and categories, for leading or upcoming brands, using objective-based tailored strategies.

    • Ecommerce Campaign & Ams Management
    • Technology Aided Campaign Management using Paxcom’s cutting-edge tools
    • Promotions Management
    • Search & Display Ads

    4. Omnichannel Solutions

    Get complete control over your e-commerce logistics and fulfillment. Businesses of all sizes & categories can harness the power of Paxcom’s innovative pre- and post-fulfillment solutions to make their listing, order processing, warehousing, and shipping process seamless, quick, and manageable. Easy connections across several channels, a consistent experience for customers and employees, and automated technologies will help you accelerate with control. Its Omnichannel offerings comprise multiple robust web applications that provide solutions that can help brands grow, and manage their backend operations flawlessly with ease.

    • Product Information & cataloging system (PIM)
    • Order & Inventory Management Software (OMS)
    • Warehouse Management Software (WMS)
    • Marketplace seller solutions

    Paxcom’s USP and innovation

    • Strong experience across platforms and categories
    • Cross geography/industry best practice
    • Strong Technical Solutions + Services work together to give a complete solution
    • Flexibility to tailor software as well as services to your specific requirements
    • Global Support – Multiple language tracking & content Learnings across brands & categories

    Pivot from Initial Idea

    Paxcom was initially building 2 products – a Product Information Management software and software for sellers to manage their orders and inventory on multiple marketplaces. These two were built initially for Mirchimart for their own use and the team thought of taking these to market. These products, gradually they realized, had significant competition and challenges of stability since marketplaces, to date, don’t offer seamless APIs. Paxcom’s core product, Kinator, came after a couple of exploratory meetings with some big FMCG brands. This was a unique problem, no players in India at that time gave information to Brands on what is happening to their products and their category on eCommerce platforms. Since eCommerce was so new and growing massively, brands wanted to have some key KPIs to measure ecom growth. The team decided to plugin that gap, and Kinator came to life.

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    Paxcom – Founders and Team

    Paxcom’s founding team was together over years at their previous company, Mirchimart, and Paxcel and had a strong working relationship. So this came in very easily.

    The team works closely together and quite often the tasks span across different areas. In the current setup, Neha Khosla is responsible for client success, Tanya Kakaria for Global Sales Marketing, Punit Sindhwani for overall strategy, and Gurjant Singh for technology solutions.

    A dynamic powerhouse, Punit Sindhwani has over 25+years of experience in the Technology and IT industry. Punit is currently the CEO of Paxcom, a SaaS-based software that provides complete eCommerce automation solutions from creating and managing e-stores (or marketplaces) to advanced data analysis, exponential revenue growth, managed warehouses, and supply chains along with ensuring happy customers.

    Paxcom CEO
    Punit Sindhwani – Founder & CEO of Paxcom

    He is a strategic leader with a proven track record in managing fast-growing software development companies in Capital Markets, Payments, Health care, Data Analysis, and Data and Image Compression.

    Prior to founding Paxcom, he was Co-founder and CTO of Mirchimart.com, an online megastore where he was responsible for building a high-performance tech platform for B2C and B2B sales, with optimized PIM, WMS, OMS, and Omni-channel touchpoints.

    A bachelor in Electronics from Mumbai University, Punit’s area of expertise includes Enterprise Application Development, Mobile Application Development, Financial Software Development, Gift /Loyalty Solutions, Web application development, Data Analysis Software, Data and Image Compression.

    Prior to Paxcom, the founding team’s technology services company, Paxcel was born in 2001. Paxcel was named after a core value that they look for while hiring any new team member “Passion for Excellence”. Paxcom came as an extension to Paxcel, everything about eCommerce with Passion for Excellence, so this was a unanimous decision of the founding team, Paxcom. The name, Pax part symbolizes the founders’ Passion for Excellence, while the com part symbolizes Commerce. The logo was designed internally by the startup’s creative team.

    Paxcom
    Paxcom Logo

    Paxcom – Business Model and Revenue Model

    There are two parts to Paxcom’s business model. All technological solutions are produced and marketed as SaaS solutions, while the services arm operates on an agency model. It typically has annual retainers and subscriptions with its clients, and the startup tailors the engagement to their specific needs and gaps. Shorter project-based engagements, on the other hand, are also possible.

    Paxcom – Launch & Marketing Strategies

    The founding team launched the company because they first saw the complexities of managing an eCommerce business across multiple channels and the scale and efficiency needed.  The push was motivated enough to take the plunge.

    They were fortunate to be amongst the first ones to offer such insights for eCommerce growth, and as such, they found a great response to their email campaign reach on Paxcom’s innovative solutions.

    “At Paxcom, we believe that a satisfied customer is the best marketer a company can have. The focus on client satisfaction has contributed significantly to our success, and we’ve seen a lot of initial growth organically through referrals and expanding partnerships with existing clients across industries and regions”  – says Punit Sindhwani, CEO, Paxcom

    Paxcom’s marketing and business leaders have invested a significant amount of time and effort in developing strong industry relationships and gaining a thorough understanding of the segments in which they operate. This has allowed them to take a consultative approach to business development, based on extensive knowledge of the ever-changing e-commerce landscape, best practices, industry trends, clients’ businesses, their current eCommerce maturity, possible growth areas, and potential solutions. Every client is different and having targeted outreach campaigns based on this understanding have worked well for Paxcom. It has also recently begun to broaden the use of content marketing by widely disseminating Paxcom’s large repository of useful resources for brands, sellers, and industry enthusiasts at all stages of e-commerce maturity. These are accessible via its website and social media pages.

    Paxcom has established a strong presence and goodwill within the Indian eCommerce industry over the years, helping it solidify its position as an authority on eCommerce. Numerous leading brands it serves and its commitment to providing strong solutions for the clients globally have also helped the startup establish credibility as an eCommerce partner. The majority of its new business, therefore, comes from word of mouth, client referrals, eCommerce platform recommendations, and SEO.

    Additionally, the team at Paxcom is also been working on producing content that serves the industry by offering in-depth information and advice for clients and the broader brands in the market.

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    Paxcom – Challenges Faced

    Paxcom was started when eCommerce in India was in its nascent stage, and grown with the industry. The initial inertia of brands to recognize their potential, and the ever-changing ecom environment have been some challenges. However, the team has had the opportunity of working with some great brands and built strong goodwill for themselves by constantly adapting to ensure they go above and beyond their client’s expectations. This has helped Paxcom grow to its current strength and recognition in the industry.

    Paxcom – Operating Locations

    Out of the 6 office locations 3 are located in India, 2 in the US, and 1 in Canada.

    1. Gurgaon
    2. Delhi
    3. Mohali
    4. Washington
    5. North Carolina
    6. Toronto, Canada

    Paxcom’s services are already available in 20 countries across SEA, Japan, Korea, the Middle East, Africa, the UK, North America, Australia, and India.

    Paxcom – Funding

    Paxcom is a bootstrapped startup and currently, it is not looking to raise funds in the near future.  

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    Paxcom – Tools used to run startup

    Being a tech-focused company at heart, the team understands the value of tools in improving efficiency. There are numerous tools Paxcom utilizes to ensure that the team can function at scale effortlessly. Some of these are Slack, Keka, Google Business tools, Zoho, Hubspot, and Drutas.

    Paxcom – Future Plans

    In addition to expanding within the country, Paxcom is aggressively growing its global presence. Its current clients include over 150 brands, across 20 countries, and it is in the process of growing not just the client base, but also the engagement with existing clients.

    At the moment, Paxcom’s SaaS-based data analytics tools are the top focus, with eCommerce advertising & strategy services following closely behind. Looking ahead, the startup also expects its revenue to triple within the next two years, with the primary chunk of that growth coming from North American and Asian markets.

    Paxcom – FAQs

    What is Paxcom?

    Paxcom’s eCommerce solutions consist of a robust set of proprietary (or cutting edge or ML/AI) technology solutions backed up by a strong suite of eCommerce services that provide end-to-end assistance for businesses looking to expand their online presence.

    Who is the CEO of Paxcom?

    Punit Sindhwani is the CEO of Paxcom. He has over 25+years of experience in the Technology and IT industry.

    How does Paxcom make money?

    Paxcom’s technological solutions are produced and marketed as SaaS solutions, while the services arm operates on an agency model. It typically has annual retainers and subscriptions with its clients.

    Is Paxcom funded?

    No. Paxcom is currently bootstrapped.

    What is the Paymentus group?

    In 2019, Paxcom became a part of the Paymentus group – a leading global paperless electronic billing and payment solution, ranked by Deloitte to be amongst the fastest-growing North American companies.

  • Story of Upside AI: Tech-driven Asset Management Company

    Company Profile is an initiative by StartupTalky to publish verified information on different startups and organizations. The content in this post has been approved by Upside AI.

    Upside AI is a SEBI-registered PMS (Portfolio Management Service). Founded by Kanika Agarrwal, Nikhil Hooda and Atanuu Agarrwal, Upside AI creating a new class of investing that sit between active and passive – its goal is to deliver consistent alpha through eliminating bias/emotions from the process.

    Today, Upside AI ranks among the top-performing PMS’ in the country delivering 33% annualized returns since it came out of beta in Jul 2019. family offices. asset management is a highly fragmented market and is not a winner-take-all play. Even at a sub-1% market share, Upside AI can scale to ~$5B in AUM while delivering a robust return on capital.

    Startuptalky interviewed the Founders of Upside AI to get insights on the startup story and the roadmap of the organization. In this article, you’ll get to know all about Upside AI’s history, how it launched, its future plans, competitors, funding details, growth, and more.

    Upside AI – Company Highlights

    Startup Name Upside AI
    Co-Founders Kanika Agarrwal, Nikhil Hooda, Atanuu Agarrwal
    Founded 2017
    Headquarters Mumbai
    Industry Fintech
    Website upsideai.com

    Upside AI – About and Vision
    Upside AI – Market/Industry Details
    Journey of Upside AI – How is Started
    How Upside AI works – Product and USP
    Upside AI – Founders and Team
    Upside AI – Business Model
    Growth of Upside AI
    Upside AI – Funding and Investors
    Upside AI – Competitors
    Upside AI – Recognition and Achievements
    Upside AI – Future Plans
    Upside AI – FAQs

    Upside AI – About and Vision

    Upside AI is a SEBI-registered PMS (Portfolio Management Service). It is essentially an investment management startup that uses technology to drive investment decisions. Nikhil Hooda, Kanika Agarrwal, and Atanuu Agarrwal started Upside AI with the belief that technology will make better decisions than humans over the long term since machines are unbiased and unemotional decision-makers. It is therefore focused on building products that follow a rules-based, systematic approach to investing.

    Upside AI’s first two products focus on equity investing using proprietary machine learning algorithms to understand, recognize, and buy companies that are fundamentally good businesses. It provides Portfolio Management Services or PMS, which caters to HNI’s, institutions, and family offices in India and globally. The minimum investment size is INR 50 lakhs.

    Upside AI logo

    The team wants Upside AI to be a world-class 100% tech-driven asset management company (AMC). They aim to achieve this by building an array of products across asset classes and strategies. Apart from the two live products, Upside AI has another couple of products in development, which it plans to launch over the next 6-12 months (2021-2022). Over the next couple of years, the company aims to add 1,000 HNIs, family offices, and institutional clients and grow to INR ~1,000cr in AUM.

    “We are also working on building an end-to-end digital platform where we want tech to drive the entire chain from client onboarding to sophisticated investment tech to live tracking and reporting via a seamless UI/UX experience for clients”  as said by the Founders of Upside AI.

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    Upside AI – Market/Industry Details

    The asset management market in India today is INR 52 trillion (as of December 2020). Retail mutual fund penetration in India is very low (~6% of GDP vs. ~36% in other emerging markets and ~60-70% in developed markets.) Hence, it has been growing at ~25-30% over the last 5 years; the team @ Upside AI expect this momentum to continue.

    Over the last decade, tech has disrupted several areas of financial services like payments, lending, insurance, etc. However, asset management has stayed the same in India i.e., human investors taking calls and large armies of sales/ back-end staff running distribution and operations.

    Over the next 5 years, Upside AI aims to create off-the-shelf, standardized products across asset classes that can be pre-packaged and sold to even retail investors. Distribution will be built online with end-to-end integrations with brokerages and bank accounts. The back-end ops and reporting that the team is building are already online and extremely scalable.

    By its nature, asset management is a highly fragmented market and is not a winner-take-all play. Even at a sub-1% market share, Upside AI can scale to ~$5B in AUM while delivering a robust return on capital (even traditional players with large physical networks today have 30%+ ROEs) by leveraging digital distribution and algo-based systematic investment.
    (Source: AMFI, McKinsey’s Asset management database)

    Journey of Upside AI – How is Started

    Spark of Idea: Upside AI

    “Graham is my guru in every sense of the word. I had no background in finance or investing when I picked up “The Intelligent Investor” almost 15 years ago. It led me to Graham’s other seminal work “Security Analysis”, meant for professional investors. They are the inspiration and spark behind the idea for Upside AI. They led me to the framework for our core algorithm” – Atanuu Agarrwal (Co-founder, Upside AI) added.

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    The Launch of Upside AI:

    It took nearly a year to build out the tech, including –

    1. cleaning up ~20 years of financial data
    2. Unbiased and robust back-testing, and
    3. Frameworks for qualitative issues like corporate governance

    In addition, the team conducted primary research by talking to CIOs and decision-makers at:

    1. The largest fund houses in the country
    2. Largest wealth managers in India
    3. 20-25 of the largest family offices in India
    4. 100+ retail investors

    It took nearly a year to build out the tech and back-test it; then another year to test it in the live market, before it took out of beta and started offering to third-party distributors and clients in July 2019.

    Challenges Faced by Upside AI:

    One of the major challenges that the team faced was that they were pitted against established players in an industry built on trust. Adding to that was the fact that Upside AI was perceived as an outsider since the team came from a background in venture capital and technology. Building a network of investors and distributors virtually from scratch remains one of its biggest challenges even today.

    Additionally, convincing people to put their trust and money into a newly introduced tech-based product was a mammoth task. However, the company’s aim since day one has been to make investors realize that one must diversify away from human-led investing. Over the due course, on the back of consistent performance and sustained alpha, clients, wealth managers, and distributors associated with Upside AI have come to appreciate that tech-based products should be an integral part of one’s asset allocation strategy.

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    How Upside AI works – Product and USP

    The current state of play in the Indian AMC industry is that –

    • Human managers are struggling with outperformance
    • Fees in the industry are shrinking where a human heavy cost base means low ROE, and
    • There is an ongoing system redesign on how asset allocation will change over the next decade.

    Already, technology/rules run 60% of the markets in the US. With ETFs overtaking active investing in the last few years, developed markets are moving away from the traditional human-driven investing models (which tend to be driven by irrational emotions/ biases).

    This will be the future for India and other developing countries – that users will increasingly look for an unbiased rules-based approach to equities and tech will drive much of asset management.

    At Upside AI, the team is creating a new class of investing that sits between active and passive – its goal is to deliver consistent alpha through eliminating bias/emotions from the process.

    Upside AI’s first few products focus on equity investing using proprietary machine learning algorithms to understand, recognize, and buy companies that are fundamentally good businesses.  

    1. The first step is parsing of P&L, balance sheet, and cash flow data of all companies listed on the NSE. This was a non-trivial exercise, as meticulous data clean-up and standardization.  
    2. The secret sauce is however the next step where the algorithm uses ML to shortlist companies that are not just fundamentally good businesses but also in-demand stocks.
    3. It does this exercise quarterly, to pick a portfolio of 10-25 stocks. It has also developed a framework for corporate governance checks to make sure the numbers fed into the algorithm are kosher.

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    Upside AI – Founders and Team

    Nikhil Hooda, Kanika Agarrwal, and Atanuu Agarrwal are the founders of Upside AI.

    Upside AI Team
    Nikhil Hooda, Kanika Agarrwal, and Atanuu Agarrwal – Upside AI Founders

    How the Co-founders Met:

    Nikhil and Atanuu were batchmates from IIT Bombay and in fact, have been friends since even before that when they started preparing for IIT JEE together. Kanika and Atanuu crossed paths while working in the investment banking team at Credit Suisse.

    “All three of us love playing strategy board games and that is what led to a deep friendship and then eventually the partnership. So much so that Kanika and I are married and Nikhil was the witness on our marriage certificate. We are a very close-knit group and share not only the same set of interests but also common values which is ideal if you are starting a business together.” – Atanuu Agarrwal added.

    Atanuu Agarrwal | Co-founder, Upside AI

    Since Atanuu is the in-house Ben Graham disciple and pretty much spends most of his time on the investment and product side of the business. he has a B.Tech and M.Tech from IIT Bombay. He has experience in both public and private investing in the US and India. Atanuu spent the last 7 years prior to Upside AI working in New York with the CEO/Founder managing $1bn in AUM across PE, VC, and SPAC strategies.

    Kanika Agarrwal | Co-founder, Upside AI

    Kanika focuses most of her energies on sales and distribution. She is a Chartered Accountant (All India Rank 18), a CFA charter holder by qualification. She previously worked at Mayfield India for a brief time, Credit Suisse, and EY for nearly a decade before starting Upside AI.

    Nikhil Hooda | Co-founder, Upside AI

    Nikhil is the brains behind the technology at Upside AI. He has a B.Tech in Computer Science from IIT Bombay (All India Rank 43) and a PhD in Computer Science. Every single line of code has been written by Nikhil and there has been no outsourcing or licensing when it comes to actually building the product.

    Upside AI – Business Model

    The business model in asset management is “solved”. Clients are charged a percentage of AUM periodically.

    Growth of Upside AI

    Currently, Upside AI has ~80 customers and about INR 85cr in AUM. Its goal is to cross 1000 customers and 1000 crores in AUM within the next 18-24 months (2022-23) while delivering consistent returns for its investors.

    As mentioned earlier, Upside AI ranks among the top-performing PMS’ in the country delivering 33% annualized returns since it came out of beta in Jul 2019. The company recently raised a seed round of $1.2 Million, led by a VC fund, Endiya Partners. It has already attracted marquee clients ranging from large family offices, VCs, CEOs of large MNCs in India and the US on the back of unique investment tech that the team has built in-house and extensively tested. The funding will help Upside AI build a robust pipeline of differentiated tech products and a network of large distributors, wealth managers, brokers, and IFAs.

    “I believe that a product-focused and client-centric approach can help us achieve our vision of being a world-class, tech-driven asset management company that will democratize access to sophisticated investment technology, built for Indian investors” Atanuu Agarrwal added.

    Upside AI – Funding and Investors

    Upside AI recently raised a seed round of $1.2 Million, led by a VC fund, Endiya Partners. Other investors in the round include – Vijay Kedia (a veteran stock market investor), Ajay Nanavati (Chairman of Quantum Advisors, previously Chairman of Syndicate Bank, MD of 3M), and Gopichand Katragadda (CEO of Myelin Foundry, ex-CTO of Tata Group).

    Date Stage Amount Investors
    June 21, 2021 Seed $1.2 Mn Endiya Partners, Vijay Kedia, Ajay Nanavati, Gopichand Katragadda

    The team @ Upside AI believes that the funding and guidance from Endiya and their esteemed angel investors will propel Upside AI towards the milestone to cross 1000 customers and 1000 crores in AUM within the next 18-24 months (2022-23) while delivering consistent returns for its investors.

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    Upside AI – Competitors

    Current competitors for Upside AI include:

    1. Traditional Asset Management Companies (AMCs), and
    2. Boutique investment firms run by human fund managers.

    There are companies building digital distribution like Paytm, Smallcase, and Groww, etc. Upside AI would leverage these pipes to distribute its products. However, they might become competitors in the future if they backward integrate into asset management.

    Having said that, asset management is not a winner-take-all market and there is space for multiple large players to exist.

    “In addition, as far as we know, we are amongst only a handful of players leveraging tech for investment decision-making in India. Our proprietary tech and track record are sustainable moats, which should hold us in good stead vis-à-vis the competition” says Atanuu Agarrwal, Co-founder, Upside AI

    Upside AI – Recognition and Achievements

    Upside AI ranks among the top-performing PMS’ in the country delivering 33% annualized returns since it came out of beta in July 2019; this represents a ~14% alpha (outperformance) over the benchmark index (Nifty 500 TRI).

    In June 2021, PMS AIF World ranked Upside AI Multicap in the top 10 products of its peer group. Upside AI’s AUM has grown by 10X since 2020 to over INR 75cr with investments from several HNIs, and family offices.

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    Upside AI – Future Plans

    • Its goal is to cross 1000 customers and 1000 crores in AUM within the next 18-24 months (2022-23) while delivering consistent returns for its investors
    • Apart from the two live products, Upside AI has another couple of products in development, which it plans to launch over the next 6-12 months(2021-2022)
    • Over the next couple of years, the company aims to add 1,000 HNIs, family offices, and institutional clients and grow to INR ~1,000cr in AUM.
    • The team is also working on building an end-to-end digital platform where we want tech to drive the entire chain from client onboarding to sophisticated investment tech to live tracking and reporting via a seamless UI/UX experience for clients
    • Over the next 5 years, Upside AI aims to create off-the-shelf, standardized products across asset classes that can be pre-packaged and sold to even retail investors

    Upside AI – FAQs

    What is Upside AI?

    Upside AI is a SEBI-registered PMS (Portfolio Management Service). It is an investment management startup that uses technology to drive investment decisions.

    Who are the founders of Upside AI?

    Nikhil Hooda, Kanika Agarrwal, and Atanuu Agarrwal started Upside AI in 2017.

    How does Upside AI make money?

    Clients are charged a percentage of AUM periodically.

    What is the USP of Upside AI?

    At Upside AI, the team is creating a new class of investing that sits between active and passive – its goal is to deliver consistent alpha through eliminating bias/emotions from the process. Upside AI’s first few products focus on equity investing using proprietary machine learning algorithms to understand, recognize, and buy companies that are fundamentally good businesses.

    Is Upside AI an Indian Company?

    Yes. Upside AI is an Indian Company headquartered in Mumbai.

    How much funding has Upside AI raised?

    Upside AI raised a seed round of $1.2 Million, led by a VC fund, Endiya Partners. Other investors in the round include – Vijay Kedia, Ajay Nanavati, and Gopichand Katragadda.

  • Humanoid Robots, Tesla Bot and Beyond

    Humans have long been reigning the Earth as uncrowned rulers. With their sharp mind, crucial thinking ability, power of execution, and sky-high ambitions, human beings have unarguably been the wisest species living on the planet.

    Time and again their existence was threatened but it is the urge to live that has chalked the way ahead for the humans. Starting from the stone age to the invention of fire, metals, followed by the grouping of humans in societies that expanded to cities and countries, humans never really shirked any opportunities of inventing new things.

    Later when the humans started to be distanced from each other, they started to invent tools like the telephone, telegram, mobiles, and computers to keep them connected. Though human inventions were always speculated hugely on the necessity and the disadvantages that they would likely have, most of them went on to be successfully received by the successive generations and resulted in bettering our lives overall.

    Robots and their Brief History
    Elon Musk’s Announcement of the All-New Tesla Bot
    Some of the Popular Humanoid Robots
    FAQ

    Robots and their Brief History

    Robots are machines programmed by humans to be operated as computers that can carry out a complex series of actions without any significant aid from humans. The invention of these machines was being discussed since the emergence of the first generation of computers. However, the invention of robots was not an easy task and required severe hindrances to be overcome before they could be materialized.

    The invention of robots started with that of Artificial Intelligence (AI), the first of which was developed by Christopher Strachey.

    However, if you are curious about robots, then it is George Devol, who had invented the Unimate in 1954, the first commercial, digital and programmable robot.

    The robot was eventually sold to General Motors in 1961, where it served as a human alternative to lift pieces of hot metal from die casting machines at the Inland Fisher Guide Plant in Ewing Township’s West Trenton section in New Jersey.

    The development of robots was not only seen as a useful addition to various industries and companies to boost their overall productivity but also as robust reinforcements to get risky and dangerous tasks done without any bother.

    Elon Musk’s Announcement of the All-New Tesla Bot

    Elon Musk, founder, CEO, and Chief Engineer of SpaceX and CEO and Product Architect of Tesla announced on Thursday, August 19, 2021, that the electric automobile company, Tesla is almost ready with the prototype of a humanoid, which they are set to launch by next year. This is a step towards developing the next generation of AIs that look similar to the structure of humans and can work like them.

    Tesla Bot
    Tesla Bot

    The humanoid bot is code-named “Optimus,” said the billionaire entrepreneur, who would stand 5 feet 8 inches tall and would not be “super-expensive” to afford. The robot will be based on the same chips and sensors that the Tesla autonomous cars use for operating their self-driving features.

    What does Tesla Bot do?

    The humanoid bot launched by Tesla can perform a wide range of chores that are considered to be dangerous, boring, or repetitive. Elon Musk further mentioned that the humanoid will be an excellent addition to the industries in order to address labor shortage issues. The all-new Tesla bot would have “profound implications for the economy,” he added.

    Musk also presented the slides to exhibit the design of the bot prototype where he mentioned that the bot will have autopilot cameras installed in its head. He also declared that Optimus will weigh 125 pounds and will have the ability to run at 5 mph, lift 150 pounds and carry 45 pounds of weight.

    Fetching groceries or other utilities from the store will be among some of the major benefits of using the bots.

    Though the Tesla bot might seem like a unique concept and the working of such robots a breakthrough since the last AI, it is not the first humanoid bot that we have known. Yes, there is a list of humanoid robots that are already in existence and happen to be working in different sectors.

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    Nadine

    Nadine - The Robot with professor Nadia Magnenat Thalmann
    Nadine – The Robot with professor Nadia Magnenat Thalmann

    We all have to interact with a customer service agent or two whenever we find any issues hindering our systematic lifestyle and work process or want to make a new visit or initiate any new processes. The customer service agents duly assist us in such works but you might also bump into Nadine, who would look similar to a woman but is actually not.

    Nadine was developed in 2013 by Kokoro Japan and is modeled on professor Nadia Magnenat Thalmann.

    What does the Nadine the Robot do

    Nadine is a social robot that can greet you on your first visit, talk, make eye contact, remember your previous meetings and chat in the respect of the earlier meets. The social robot can talk in 6 different languages and handle a list of queries smoothly.

    Nadine is currently employed as a customer service agent in AIA Insurance Company in Singapore and is the first humanoid robot in the world working as a customer service agent.

    Ocean One

    Ocean One
    Ocean One

    Marine life has always interested us. Though scuba divers and other manual interventions have resulted in knowing the underwater ecosystem better, however, the invention of the humanoid bot, OceanOne has further bridged the gap between the land and the water. OceanOne was developed by Stanford University in collaboration with KAUST’s Red Sea Research Center and MEKA Robotics.

    What does the Ocean one the Robot do

    OceanOne was developed to explore coral reefs and other submarine subjects and life forms. The robot mermaid can dive into the depths that human beings cannot. OceanOne first divided 100 meters below into the depths of the Mediterranean Sea and discovered the wreckage of La Lune of King Louis XIV of France, which sank off the southern coast of France in 1664.

    Erica

    Erica
    Erica

    News anchors bring us the latest news from our neighborhood and from across the world. However, they have all been humans, aren’t they? If you are in Japan, then think twice because there you might also be watching Erica as the news anchor!

    Hiroshi Ishiguro, the Director of Intelligent Robotics Laboratory developed Erica at Osaka University. Erica is one of the most modern robots that can understand human conversations and change her facial expressions according to the conversations. Though this robot cannot walk, she is shockingly good at speaking.

    What does Erica the the Robot do?

    Erica can be used as a conversation company because she is smart and can talk nicely, which is almost as expressive as humans. She is currently used as a news anchor in Japan.

    Nao

    Nao
    Nao

    We have all been to soccer matches or seen them on our television or computers. What energy the soccer players display! What unity and coordinated gameplay we get to see in one such match!

    However, soccer matches are not only a game solely dedicated to humans. Nowadays, robots have started to enjoy it too. Nao, the 23-inch robot is the first of its kind to engage in a game of soccer.

    Invented by Aldebaran Robotics, a French robotic company, was launched in 2008 and now has an entire event RoboCup Standard Platform League, a part of Robocup, dedicated to it.

    What does Nao the Robot do

    Apart from playing soccer games, Nao has also emerged as an intelligent robot that can be used in multiple industries for more than one purpose. It is one of the leading robots of the world, which is adopted in more than 70 countries in total mainly for academic and research purposes. Furthermore, Nao is also used to educate autistic children. Aldebaran Robotics was acquired by Softbank Robotics in 2015, which now produces the robot.

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    Conclusion

    The very thought of someone, a machine operating as we do has always fascinated us. The existence of such creatures is fun, interesting, and useful no doubt. Most of the robots that exist today are intended to be friendly. However, they are becoming more advanced with each passing day and as Elon Musk has pointed out earlier, can also turn into the “biggest risk we face as a civilization,” which we should avoid at any cost.

    FAQ

    What was the first humanoid robot?

    The first humanoid robot was Herbert Televox built by Ron Wensley in 1927.

    Tesla Bot, Nao, Erica, and Nadine are some of the popular humanoid robots.

    When will the Tesla bot launch?

    Elon Musk has stated that Tesla will launch the Tesla Bot prototype next year.

  • How to Register for Amazon India’s Machine Learning Summer School Programme

    Machine Learning and Deep Learning concepts have become one of the sought-after skills required by a student in the industry. The role has seen an increased demand and recently even ISRO had introduced a free programme for students and professionals to enroll in the programme. In this article let’s look at the machine learning programme introduced by Amazon India.

    Amazon Machine Learning – Latest News
    About the Machine Learning Summer School programme
    Aim of the Machine Learning Summer School programme
    Who can Apply for Machine Learning Summer School programme?
    Selection Process for Machine Learning Summer School programme
    Curriculum of the Machine Learning Summer School programme
    FAQ

    Amazon Machine Learning – Latest News

    Amazon India has announced that it would launch a Machine Learning programme which will be a summer school. The programme aims to focus on making students ready according to the industry requirements. The company has conveyed that the programme will be conducted free of cost and the applications for the summer school programme were announced to begin on 14 June 2021.

    About the Machine Learning Summer School programme

    The free Machine Learning programme conducted by Amazon India will be a virtual programme and the virtual programme will be conducted from 9 July 2021 to 11 July 2021. The course would begin at 9.00 am and would end by 6.00 pm.

    The programme will also have an interactive Question and answer session where the doubts of the candidates will be answered and clarified. Amazon India has conveyed that their Machine Learning Summer School is designed in order to impact the core machine learning skills which help the students by making them ready according to the industry requirements.

    The participants of the programme will also have the opportunity in being able to explore the machine learning skills with the expert scientists of Amazon.

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    Aim of the Machine Learning programme

    Rajeev Rastogi who is the VP of India Machine Learning at Amazon conveyed that the aim of the course is to prepare the students for science course which will help them in reducing the gap between the growing demand for the machine learning roles across the companies and the talent pool with the required amount of machine learning skills.

    The company also conveyed that the Machine Learning Summer School which was launched on 13 June 2021 will be launched every year.

    Who can Apply for Machine Learning Summer School programme?

    The Virtual Summer School for Machine Learning is mainly meant for Engineering students who have enrolled for Bachelor’s, Master’s or for PhD programmes and are expected to graduate by 2022 or 2023. The programme will concentrate on students from these Universities in India:

    • IIT Roorkee.
    • IIT Guwahati.
    • National Institute of Technology (NIT) Tiruchirappalli.
    • NIT Surathkal.
    • NIT Warangal.
    • Anna University.
    • Delhi Technological University (DTU).
    • IIT Kanpur.
    • Indian Institute of Science (IISc).
    • IIT Banaras Hindu University (BHU).
    • International Institute of Information Technology (IIIT) Hyderabad.
    • IIT Bangalore.
    • Indraprastha Institute of Information Technology Delhi.
    • Indian Institutes of Technology (IIT) Bombay.
    • IIT Madras.
    • IIT Kharagpur.
    • IIT Delhi.
    • Birla Institute of Technology (BITS).
    • IIT Hyderabad.
    • IIT Indian School of Mines (ISM) Dhanbad.

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    Selection Process for Machine Learning Summer School programme

    The interested students will have to check the eligibility criteria and those who are eligible will have to apply through the official website before 25 June 2021. There will be a selection test for the duration of 45 minutes and based on the performance of the test the eligible students will be admitted into the Virtual Machine Learning Summer School.

    You can register for Virtual Machine Learning Summer School course on Amazon summer school India website
    You can register for Virtual Machine Learning Summer School course on Amazon summer school India website

    The part A will consist of 25 multiple choice questions which will cover the basic machine learning concepts and fundamentals on math topics such as statistics, probability and linear algebra. Part B will cover two programming-based questions.

    Curriculum of the Machine Learning Summer School programme

    The curriculum of machine learning summer school will cover the fundamentals of machine learning which will link them to the practical applications in the industry through a course duration of three days. The students will also get to learn about Deep learning and the course will also cover concepts about Probabilistic
    Graphical models which will help in solving e-commerce industry specific business problems.

    Conclusion

    The problems include demand forecasting, catalogue quality, product recommendations, search ranking and online advertising. Amazon India will shortlist the students from their partnered universities with the results based on online assessments. The candidates will be able to get access to virtual tutorials and Amazon research conferences.

    FAQ

    What is the curriculum of amazon machine learning summer school programme?

    The curriculum of Amazon machine learning summer school will cover the fundamentals of machine learning which will link them to the practical applications in the industry through a course duration of three days.

    What is the last date of Amazon machine learning summer school?

    The interested students will have to apply through the official website before 25 June 2021.

    Is the Amazon machine learning summer school free?

    Yes the machine learning summer school is free for students and this programme is mainly meant for Engineering students who have enrolled for Bachelor’s, Master’s or for PhD programme and are expected to graduate by 2022 or 2023.

  • What changes we might see in Banking after the pandemic?

    The pandemic has changed the face of all systems that existed. The world is now divided into two parts – Pre and Post Covid. It highlighted many aspects of everyday activities that can be changed for the better. This pandemic is going to result in entire societies being transformed in the years ahead.

    The Banking sector is not untouched by the pandemic. Although it was fully functional even when most services closed, it still underwent immense crisis during the pandemic. The banking sector, just like any other industry, has to implement newer methods into its system to stand the test of time.

    Digitization
    New Revenue Drivers
    Newer Models for Risk Management
    More user-friendly Experience
    Incorporating AI in Banking
    FAQ

    What changes will follow the pandemic?

    Digitization

    The Banking sector prides itself on the digital functionality that it has built over the years. But Covid challenge their beliefs and established the fact they need more digitization.

    In India, e-wallets and online money managing software gain pace but they are popular only in urban areas. In most rural areas, people still need to go to banks for basic deposits and withdrawals.

    The world is moving towards voice-based artificial intelligence, personal smart assistants, built into our homes and mobiles. Therefore, the design of banks to fit in this world requires rethinking banking from the ground up.

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    New Revenue Drivers

    Bank much start looking for new product launch opportunities, as well as generate newer offerings toward an advisory and protection focus. Advanced analytics helps them in identifying relevant ideas for growth, but it should be combined with an alteration of digital sales journeys and marketing.

    Newer Models for Risk Management

    Banks obtain their credit risk modelling from traditional credit bureaus that are both historical and static on the other hand new models are already established to assess small businesses in various contexts, for example, the supply chains that they serve along with  the communities that they belong to. So, the risk management model for banks will change over time to be a relevant creditor to small businesses, that are rapidly increasing.

    More user-friendly Experience

    The banks have an image of being unpleasant and excessively difficult. They have to work towards changing in order to serve society. Private banks are providing more options to customers where agents will be on hand to guide them through transactions on their own devices, and the space will be renewed to more casual seating areas for important conversations. Changing the style and interior of branches also supports social distancing.

    Casual Seating Areas in Banks
    Casual Seating Areas in Banks

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    Incorporating AI in Banking

    AI will be a crucial change as banks move forward from using these not only to monitor transactions but also to assist customers via “conversational banking”. Banks will be combining human and digital channels to help the customers which will be quick and cost-effective. As the love for instant messages grows and demand for 24/7 banking services picks pace, conversational banking involving AI chatbots enables banks to engage in a personalized manner.

    Conclusion

    We all are a part of the post-Covid world now and both consumers and creators in every sector understand that changes have to be made. Banking will evolve and become more user-friendly and they realize they depend on the society that they serve and not the other way around. Since users have more options to handle money now, banks have to pick up the pace to implement these changes into their systems.

    FAQ

    How are banks using augmented reality?

    Banks are employing AR apps that help customers to find the nearest banks and ATMs.

    Is Digital banking the future?

    Yes, Covid 19 has also given a rise to Digital banking as it has eliminated the need for consumers to physically visit a bank branch.

    What will bank branches look like in 10 years?

    According to the experts, Bank branches will have fewer staff and will deploy more powerful ATM machines.

  • How to Enroll for ISROs Free Machine Learning & Deep Learning Course?

    The Indian Space Research Organization has announced that they are offering a 5-day free online course on Machine Learning. The course is expected to cover Machine Learning to Deep Learning in a period of 5 days. Let’s look at the further details of the online certification course provided by ISRO.

    ISRO Course – Latest News
    Details of the ISRO Course
    Target Audience for the Course
    Syllabus of the ISRO Course
    Requirements for Receiving the Certificate
    Registration for ISRO Course
    FAQ

    ISRO Course – Latest News

    ISRO has invited applications for a 5-day free online course from interested candidates. The course would cover Machine Learning to Deep Learning: A journey for remote sensing data classification. This is a short course that can be completed within a period of 5 days and also provides a certificate for the participants.

    The course is going to be conducted through the IIRS (Indian Institute of Remote Sensing) which is considered to be part of their outreach programme and the coordinator of the programme is from the IIRS DLP team, Dr. Poonam S Tiwari.

    Details of the ISRO Course

    The IIRS Machine Learning programme will be conducted from 4 to 5.30 PM from the 5th-9th of July 2021. The participants will be able to attend the course through the e-class portal of IIRS Dehradun using any web browser.

    The course is being sponsored by the Department of Space, Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO), Indian Institute of Remote Sensing (IIRS), the Government of India and Dehradun. The course is offered free of cost and there are no enrollment fees or course charges. On the completion of the course, the participants will receive a certificate from the Indian Space Research organization.

    Target Audience for the Course

    The target audience for the course or the participants who could benefit from the course is the professionals who are engaged in different applications for remote sensing data processing and are developing a specific interest in the field and would want to further increase their knowledge and learn the Machine learning or the concept of Deep Learning.

    The course also can be attended by the participants who have a basic understanding of the Deep Learning and Machine Learning concepts and also the ones who have a basic understanding of concepts such as Geographical Information System and Remote Sensing.

    IIRS Website
    IIRS Website

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    Syllabus of the ISRO Course

    The course intends to providing knowledge and educating the participants on exploring the algorithms of Machine Learning Concepts and the Deep learning in order to develop a specific level of information on remote sensing data sets from multi-sensor.

    The syllabus and the course schedule are as follows

    • 5 July 2021 – Remote Sensing and its sensors of various resolutions. Radiometry and geometric corrections and basic understanding of the image.
    • 6 July 2021 – Basic Classifier to Machine Learning: A Journey.
    • 7 July 2021 – Methods in Machine Learning: Supervised, unsupervised, and reinforcement.
    • 8 July 2021 – Fuzzy-Machine Learning with application in the temporal data processing.
    • 9 July 2021 – Network based Learning Algorithms: ANN to CNN or RNN.

    Requirements for Receiving the Certificate

    Even though it is a free course and open for all there are certain basic criteria for receiving the certificate. The participants will be receiving a certificate based on their attendance for their sessions, which is supposed to be more than 70% of the course through the e-class portal.

    The participants who attend the course sessions through the YouTube channel of IIRS will have to mark their attendance after 24 hours through an offline session.

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    Registration for ISRO Course

    The interested participants will be able to register for the free online course by visiting the official website of IIRS and Select Course Name, Individual Registration/Registration through IIRs Nodal Center after that Select Basic Qualification, Basic Knowledge on and write the description for how the course contents of this course will be useful for your professional career. The participants have to option to attend the sessions through the e-class of IIRS or through the YouTube channel of IIRS.

    Conclusion

    IIRS (Indian Institute of Remote Sensing) is an organization under the Indian Space Research Organization, Department of Space, and Government of India. They are a premier training and educational institute that is set up for developing trained professionals in the field of remote sensing.

    FAQ

    Who can apply for ISRO free online courses?

    Central and state government employees, researchers, professionals, and those attached with NGOs can attend the course. Also, interested candidates must have basic knowledge of remote sensing and GIS.

    What is ISRO free course?

    ISRO is providing free online course called “Machine learning to Deep Learning: A journey for remote sensing data classification”. This short course can be completed in five days, and participants will also receive a certificate.

    How can I apply for free course in ISRO?

    Visit the Website of IIRs and Select Course Name, Individual Registration/Registration through IIRs Nodal Center after that Select Basic Qualification, Basic Knowledge on and write the description for how the course contents of this course will be useful for your professional career.

  • How Invest19 is Disrupting the Stock Market? [Exclusive Interview]

    Invest19.com is disrupting the stock market with its AI-powered stock tech platform. Invest19 Technologies is a fintech company serving in the technology sector and leverages the power of emerging technologies like machine learning, data science, Artificial Intelligence, to simplify, automate, and enhance the user experience – from customers to businesses.

    Invest19.com is building an innovative platform capable of providing next-generation, scalable and low-latency tools and technology solutions to individuals and businesses in meeting the swiftly evolving needs of today’s fast-growing industry.

    StartupTalky interviewed Mr. Kaushlendra Singh Sengar, Founder & CEO of Invest19.com to know how the startup is planning to disrupt the stock market industry by leveraging emerging technologies. Read all about the USP, Features, Revenue Model of Invest19.com, its marketing strategies, future plans and more in this post ahead!

    Invest19.com – Company Highlights

    Startup Name Invest19.com
    Founders Kaushlendra Singh Sengar (CEO), Mahek Tomer
    Headquarters Noida
    Founded 2020
    Industry Fintech, Wealth Management

    Here’s what Kaushlendra Singh has got to say about Invest19.com –

    1. Invest19.com USP over its Competitors
    2. How Invest19.com is Planning to set itself apart and grab the investors trust?
    3. What emerging technologies is Invest19.com disrupting to enhance the user experience?
    4. Invest19.com Revenue Model – “Become an Investor @ Cost of Burger”
    5. Invest19.com – Marketing and User Acquisition Strategies
    6. How does the Execution Partner Opportunity for Stock Brokers at Invest19.com work?
    7. How is Invest19.com coping with Challenges and Opportunities amidst pandmeic?
    8. Achievements of Invest19.com
    9. Future Plans of Invest19.com

    1.What USP Invest19.com provides over its competitors?

    Invest19.com is an Investment ecosystem providing multi broker choices to scale capital market into small towns by build next generation stock market industry on cloud where in market participants like exchanges, depositories, stock brokers, market experts can come together and provide seamless investment experience to create new breed of smart investors.

    Invest19 founder
    invest19 founder – Kaushlendra Singh

    2.Over 30% of market share in the discount brokerage industry is held by top players like Zerodha, Angel Broking, 5paisa, Upstox among many. How do you plan to set yourself apart and grab the investors trust?

    Invest19.com is supporting stock brokers by providing next generation cloud infrastructure to scale their broking business by increasing their reach up to small town users,  disrupting human centric technology is providing better user experience, which leads to high user retention ratio and better revenue. Invest19.com is building business beyond technology by referring new users to stock brokers.

    3. How is Invest19.com ahead in its technology implementation? What emerging technologies are you disrupting to enhance the user experience from customers to businesses?

    There is a lack of financial literacy in India and complexities of available trading platforms are the biggest entry barriers for novice investors. We at Invest19.com is trying to fix these challenges with the help of latest blend of technologies, which is highly scalable, can handle millions of orders per second, simplifying investment experience by using human centric user interface and experience, making system more intelligent by mixing human brain with Artificial intelligence and data science and proving one touch investment platform.

    With this we are able to provide an investment platform where in a layman can also investment with confidence and grow their wealth.

    4. Found this intriguing- “Become an Investor @ Cost of Burger” How do you plan on executing this? What revenue model mechanism are you adopting?

    We believe that like 2 decades ago computer education became mandatory for everyone from schooling, in the same way we should also make investment education mandatory from schools this is the right time when one should learn the art of savings and power of investment. If we want to build a new breed of future smart investors we should start working from roots.

    That’s why we have built this product name “become an Investor @ cost of burger” this signifies that students can become investors by compromising from a piece of a burger and their pocket money is sufficient enough to start the investment journey.

    We, along with SEBI registered market experts have created a special poll of high potential listed companies with good fundamentals and future business projections with low stock prices. Our specially designed artificial intelligent system will help users to build a low risk and high growth portfolio.

    We have all three business model, B2B, B2C and SaaS along with monetization Strategies like Financial Literacy, Gamification, Referral Reward, Sponsorship & Space Selling, Freemium Model, Transactional Fee, Membership Selling, Licensing Fee.

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    5. How are you planning to make yourself known in the investment world? What marketing and user acquisition strategies are you employing?

    Building Investment ecosystem for millennials, offering multiple BFSI service provider and investment assets class choices, simplified investment experience with affordable tailor made investment ideas by mixing human brains with artificial intelligence and cash back on brokerages.

    As we are on beta stage, so we do understand that there is high chance of app performance issue. That’s why we have started a physital model a mix of digital and human touch to spread financial literacy and create trust among small town users and to trained users about platform features. Human touch approach is bridging the gap wherever there is a bug or app performance issue. This is cost effective for the early stage startup because here you pay only on business conversion.

    6. What exactly is Execution Partner Opportunity for Stock Brokers? How does it work?

    Invest19.com is an investment ecosystem where in any regulated stock brokers can get registered as an execution partner by doing some necessary paper work with the respective exchanges and can become a next generation tech broker, here broker will get everything which is required to run and expand the business, starting from user acquisition, investment ideas services, trading features, customer support, portfolio tracker and many more.

    This way a regional broker can become national stock broker and can acquire user from pan India with no time and marketing budget. This is reducing market cost, sales cost, tech and server cost, operation cost, research team cost and many more.

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    7. Launching a company amidst the start of pandemic must’ve bought its own opportunities and challenges. How is Invest19.com coping with it?

    Invest19.com was hardly 2 months old when lockdown started in March 2020. Initially it was quite challenging for us, as no one was prepared for that and business dynamics completely changed after lockdown.

    As product was into development stage that time. So we missed the chance to grab the user growth opportunity. But we saw this pandemic as an opportunity and people have realized the importance of savings in this hard time.

    It’s being more than a year we are working from home, seeing the changed business dynamics in covid-19. We focused on building the paperless 100% online investment ecosystem, which can convert the offline brokers into online as due to lockdown their sales people are not able to go out for business development or demat account opening.

    To reduce risk due to Covid uncertainty we focused on:

    • Fund raising and investments: In parallel with Product development, I have started pitching investors to meet out working capital requirements of the company. As product was into development stage so we were completely dependent on the investors’ fund. I have followed a sustainable business, wherein all the resources, particularly monetary resources and funds, need to be used consciously. Managing cash flow and conserving resources for a few months post resumption of normal operations is a key to sustainability.
    • Incorporated short cycle planning: Instead of looking at long-term plans three months, six months, and one-year plans should be ready. In the current scenario, making up for the lag due to lockdown and preparing the organisation to cope up with the situation needs to be focused upon.
    • We are also doing Effective and regular monitoring: The need for mentoring is going to be the highest in given times, as team is working from home and lots of coordination is required to deliver the project on time.
    • We have created Strong communication channel: During the Covid times, it is essential that the channel of communication is effectively and efficiently maintained. Being open and available to the concerns of all stakeholders, including customers and investors, becomes extremely important to maintain their association with the business.

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    8. It’d be great if you could highlight some of your achievements

    • We received our first success in July 2020, when we got the exchange approval of our platform to go live in one go without any observation. In the history of stock market, we are the first platform who got go live approval in one go.
    • Second success came by August end when we did beta launch of this platform.

    9. Where do you see Invest19.com in the next 5 years in comparison to your competitors? Any business expansion/partnership/funding plans?

    In next 5 years Invest19.com will become the world’s largest investment ecosystem, with more than 45 stock exchanges and all the possible investment asset class you can think of. We are doing partnerships with banks, stock brokers, NBFC’s, insurance companies, AMCs, Fintech platforms, financial platforms, etc. and also raising funds to speed up our product launches, soon will do the funding announcements.

    Conclusion

    Startups are always a step ahead in disrupting the emerging technologies, be it any field. Invest19.com being one among is aiming to be the world’s largest investment ecosystem by 2026 by leveraging artificial intelligence, machine learning and data science. Launching the company amidst the start of pandemic bought its own opportunities and challenges to the team, but Invest19.com paved its way over the beat launch in August 2020 and is looking for a main launch in 4 months i.e., July-August 2021.

  • How the Airtel Startup Accelerator Program is helping Startups Grow

    One of India telecom giants Bharti Airtel launched its Startup Accelerator Program in 2019 to support growth of early stage Indian tech startups. With the advent of its Startup Accelerator Program, Airtel aims to support the creation of a vibrant startup ecosystem that contributes to Digital India. Airtel believes that new technologies like AI and Machine learning could be leveraged to aid the growth of startups.

    The program will help early stage startups get access to Airtel’s online and offline distribution network, deep market understanding and ecosystem of global strategic partners. With the Artificial intelligence and machine learning (AI/ML) becoming the next big thing in technology, the program has also developed strong in-house capacities for using these new age technologies.

    Moreover, the startups will also get access to advisory services form Airtel executive team. Chief product officer of Bharti Airtel, Adarsh Nair on the launch of the accelerator program shared that early startups in India have exciting ideas but face multiple challenges in scaling up. He added, “With Airtels scale and digital capabilities around distribution and payments, we have the potential to drive the accelerated growth of emerging startups that are solving hard problems”.

    A Brief about Bharti Airtel
    How does the Startup Accelerator Program help Startups?
    Some Startups under the Accelerator Program
    FAQs

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    A Brief about Bharti Airtel

    Airtel is a global telecommunications company with operations in 18 countries across South Asia and Africa. The company ranks amongst the top three mobile operators globally and its mobile network covers a population of over two billion people. Airtel is India largest integrated telecom provider and the second largest mobile operator in Africa. At the end June 2020, Airtel had approx. 420 million customers across its operators.

    The portfolio of airtel includes high speed 4G/4.5G mobile broadband, Airtel Xstream Fiber that promises speeds up to 1Gbps and converged digital TV solutions through the Airtel Xstream 4K hybrid box. It also has digital payments through Airtel Payments Bank as well as an integrated suite of services across connectivity, collaborations, cloud and security that serves over one million businesses.

    Airtel OTT services that includes Airtel Thanks app which is made for self-care, Airtel Xstream app for video, Wynk Music for entertainment and Airtel blue jeans for video conferencing. In addition, Airtel has forged strategic partnerships with hundreds of companies across the world to enable the Airtel platform to deliver an array of consumer and enterprise services.

    How does the Startup Accelerator Program help Startups?

    Airtel Startup Accelerator Program allows startups to leverage Airtels robust ecosystem including its core strengths in data, networks, payments and distribution. The program includes an access to a vast range of online and offline distribution network that touches 300 plus customers, deep market understanding and platform of global strategic partners.

    Madhav Krishna, Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Vahan with Adarsh Nair, Chief Product Officer, Airtel
    Madhav Krishna, Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Vahan with Adarsh Nair, Chief Product Officer, Airtel

    Further, startups also get access to advisory services from Airtel’s executive team. In India, Airtel serves customers across mobile, landline and DTH verticals. The program was introduced on 25th October 2019, Airtel will help early startups with its online and offline distribution network, deep market understanding and global strategic partner ecosystem.

    The company said in a statement, “With its Startup Accelerator Program, Airtel aims to support the creation of a vibrant startup ecosystem that contributes to Digital India”. Airtel has also developed in-house capabilities around machine learning (ML) and artificial intelligence (AI), which could be leveraged to aid the growth of startups. The statement added that the startups will also get access to advisory services from Airtel’s executive team.

    Some Startups under the Accelerator Program

    the companies under the airtel startup accelerator program
    The companies under the airtel startup accelerator program

    Vahan

    Vahan is a Bengaluru-based tech startup and the first company to come under this program. The telecom has brought 8.8% stakes of the tech startup and will partner with them to achieve their visions of enabling jobs for the next billion internet users with the help of AI based technology. The company was founded in 2016 and is backed by YCombination and Khosla Ventures.

    The company is focused on finding blue collar jobs for millions of young Indians in Delivery, Driving, Retail, BFSI, BPO and Hospitality sectors with companies such as Zomato, Swiggy and Dunzo as clients.

    Madhav Krishna, Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Vahan, in a statement said, “Most blue-collar job seekers are unaware of the opportunities that exist in the market, especially new-age on-demand jobs. Airtel’s distribution channels will help us reach the depths of the country and in turn, help them take control of their economic destiny.”

    Vahan leverages advanced Artificial Intelligence to match job seekers with employers inside messaging apps such as Whatsapp.

    Waybeo

    Waybeo is a Trivandrum headquartered startup which focuses on deep AI based analytics for cloud telephony, is the fifth to join the fast growing Airtel Startup Accelerator Program, which helps promises startups unlock their potential. Airtel has chosen Waybeo to be a part of the program as it is part of its strategy to scale up its cloud offerings. As per IDC, the public cloud services market in India is likely to reach US$7.1 billion by 2024.

    Adarsh Nair, Chief Product Officer, Airtel said: “Cloud technologies are transforming the way businesses serve and delight their customers. We are thrilled to onboard Waybeo to our Startup Accelerator program and provide them a platform to scale up their technologies as part of Airtel’s world-class cloud services ecosystem.”

    Waybeo has managed to build a cutting edge analytics tools for the enterprises cloud telephony segment. Under the Airtel Stratup Accelerator program, Waybeo solutions will get larger distribution reach while giving Airtel access to waybeo proven as well as emerging technologies. Airtel serves over 2,500 large enterprises and more than a million emerging businesses with an integrated product portfolio, including Airtel cloud, a multi cloud product and solutions business.

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    Voicezen

    The other company that came under the program was Voicezen, which is a Gurgaon-based startup that works on developing advanced solutions that leverage machine learning, AI, speech to text and voice technologies to offer real time analytics to help brands serve customers better. The global conversational AI market size is expected to grow from USD 4.2 billion in 2019 to USD 15.7 billion by 2024. The megatrend will be driven by surging demand for AI powered customer support services and Omni channel deployment.

    Increased customer engagement through social media platforms and integration of advanced AI capabilities will offer massive opportunity. The investment will give Airtel preferred access to Voicezen’s technologies, which can be deployed across its customer touch points in multiple languages. These intelligent solutions will offer real time analytics and insights to make Airtel’s conversations with its customers more engaging and frictionless and enable faster resolution.

    It will also allow Airtel to make contextual offers to customers based on real time conversations. Voicezen is the third startup to become a part of the Airtel startup accelerator program. By becoming a part of this program, Voicezen will get the opportunity to deploy its technologies on a massive scale and work closely with Airtel on developing India first platforms of the future. Voicezen helps brands deliver a better customer experience in Indian language using Conversational AI.

    Apurba Nath, founder Voicezen said , “Having worked on AI solutions in the past, we knew what works well in a lab most often doesn’t work in the real world, because either the training data is not large and relevant or the problem has little business significance. Our partnership with Airtel helps us solve these challenges. With this strategic investment, we will work even more closely with them to continuously improve our AI models and build out an enterprise grade battle hardened product that will make customer interactions more efficient, especially in this post Covid world where business operations are facing large disruptions.”

    Spectacom Global Pvt. Ltd

    Airtel has also picked stake in Spectacom Global Pvt. Ltd which is a fitness focused startup, through its Airtel startup Accelerator Program. Airtel will work with the startup to increase the adoption of its services by leveraging its digital platforms, including Xstream and Wynk Music. Adarsh Nair said that, “This also fits into Airtel strong focus on connecting with the youth and providing them digital platforms to fulfill their aspirations”.

    The Gurugram based Spectacom, set up by Adnan Adeeb and Zeba Zaidi, says it create digital content that allows consumers across geographies and languages to access health and fitness training initiatives and programs. The firm will also work to creating and promoting product lines such as training and nutrition videos along with live sporting events.

    Lattu Kids

    Foraying in the edtech sector, Bharti Airtel has acquired a 10% stake in Lattu Kids for as part of the Airtel Startup Accelerator Programme. The startup is Mumbai-based and was founded in 2017 by Vivek Lath, Vivek Bhutyani and Arvind Kumar. They offer learning and development content through streaming platform for kids between three to eight years of age.

    Bhutyani, CEO of Lattu Kids, commenting on the investment by stating, “With Airtel, we have found an equally passionate partner and our synergies in this space will allow us to scale Lattu to millions of kids in India across classes and make it a much-loved homegrownn edtech brand.”

    With the pandemic the edtech sector has seen a huge boost so this investment will pay off definitely. Airtel will be able to add edtech to its premium digital content portfolio and offer quality learning material compiled by the company.

    Conclusion

    With these investmet, Airtel will be able to capture a larger audience. They forayed into fitness, edtech, AI as well as blue collar job provider platforms. These startups will also be able to reach a wider audience and get mentorship from industry experts. Overall, it’s a win-win for all.

    FAQs

    How do Accelerator programs work?

    Accelerator programs are mainly programs of limited-duration that help startups with the new venture process. They usually provide a small amount of seed capital, plus working space and mentorship help with their growth in the ecosystem.

    What are the benefits of Airtel startup accelerator program?

    The program will help early stage startups get access to Airtel’s online and offline distribution network, deep market understanding and ecosystem of global strategic partners. With the Artificial intelligence and machine learning (AI/ML) becoming the next big thing in technology, the program has also developed strong in-house capacities for using these new age technologies. Moreover, the startups will also get access to advisory services form Airtel executive team.

    What services does Airtel provide?

    Some Airtel services include high speed 4G/4.5G mobile broadband, Airtel Xstream Fiber that promises speeds up to 1Gbps and converged digital TV solutions through the Airtel Xstream 4K hybrid box. It also has digital payments through Airtel Payments Bank as well as an integrated suite of services across connectivity, collaborations, cloud and security that serves over one million businesses. Airtel OTT services that includes Airtel Thanks app which is made for self-care, Airtel Xstream app for video, Wynk Music for entertainment and Airtel blue jeans for video conferencing.