Tag: 📄Company Profiles

LinkedIn – Facebook For Working Professionals

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 LinkedIn.

On the internet, there are thousands of professional networking websites. Many of us are undoubtedly familiar with a few of the leading professional networks. However, the best professional networks are those that are simple to use, including all the necessary functions and functionalities.

LinkedIn is a professional-oriented social networking site. You may use it to network and create your professional profile, but then you can also use it to explore new job opportunities. LinkedIn is used by both established business executives and recent college graduates. Recruiters and employers who are seeking applicants also utilise LinkedIn.

LinkedIn – Company Highlights

Startup Name	LinkedIn
Parent Company	Microsoft
Industry	Social media
Headquarter	Sunnyvale, California, U.S
Founders	Allen Blue, Reid Hoffman, Konstantin Guericke, Jean-Luc Vaillant, and Eric Ly
Founded	May 5, 2003
Subsidiaries	LinkedIn Learning, Connectifier, Drawbridge, Glint
CEO	Ryan Roslansky
Areas Served	Worldwide
Website	www.linkedin.com

About LinkedIn, and How it Works?
LinkedIn – Industry
LinkedIn – Name, Logo, and Tagline
LinkedIn – Founders
LinkedIn – Startup Story
LinkedIn – Vision, and Mission
LinkedIn – Business Model, and Revenue Model
LinkedIn – Services
LinkedIn – Funding, and Investors
LinkedIn – Investments
LinkedIn – Acquisitions
LinkedIn – Competitors
LinkedIn – Strengths
LinkedIn – Future Plans

About LinkedIn, and How it Works?

LinkedIn is a professional and employment-oriented internet service based in the United States that operates through a website and mobile application. It was launched on May 5, 2003, and is principally used for networking opportunities and career-related advancement opportunities. LinkedIn enables job applicants to publish resumes and cover letters and recruiters to offer positions.

Since 2015, the majority of the company’s revenue has come from providing recruiters and marketing experts with the availability of information about its users. It has been completely owned by Microsoft, since December 2016. LinkedIn has more than 774 million registered users including over 200 countries around the world.

LinkedIn, like any other social networking site, has an algorithm that is constantly modified to offer users the best possible experience. As a member, you’ll notice that your “feed” – which works similarly to Facebook’s feed – keeps you updated with new stuff regularly. However, before this feed reaches your profile, it passes via LinkedIn’s filtration.

Some of these rating filters are set up to check for spammers or low-quality content, or to provide permission for the information to be displayed. What you’ll be viewing has most possibly been approved by a computer bot.

You may interact with the posts in your newsfeed by leaving a like, comment, or by sharing them. You may also mark the material as spam or hide it from view to prevent others from viewing it. What you view in the future is influenced by your actions. People’s reactions to the stuff may be influenced by your behaviour.

If you give negative comments on a piece of material, LinkedIn will compare your activities to that of others to assess whether or not the piece should be in anyone else’s feed. LinkedIn is useful for both socializing and advertising.

You can market on LinkedIn just like you can on Instagram and Facebook. You can run InMail campaigns and place ads using the Campaign Manager. It’s a pay-per-click model, meaning you only pay whenever anyone clicks on the advertisement. But that’s also why you would want to target properly, so think about your abilities and who would be interested in those. The best outcomes may come from a restricted approach.

LinkedIn – Industry

The worldwide social networking platforms market was estimated at $192.950 billion in 2019, with a rate of 25.38 per cent expected to reach $939.679 billion by 2026.

A professional network platform is a sort of social communication network that focuses only on professional interactions and connections rather than private, non-business connections.

Business people utilise a professional network platform to build and retain working relationships, as well as to obtain employment or advance in their careers and to receive information and networking events.

According to LinkedIn managing director Clifford Rosenberg, “This is really a call to action for professionals to re-address their use of social networks and begin to reap as many rewards from networking professionally as they do personally.”

Businesses rely heavily upon outside information and resources, and to acquire what they require, they must go out there and establish working relationships with others, such as employees or customers, as well as possible prospects.

Companies can maintain all of their networks updated, and organised, and help find out the most efficient method to communicate with every one of them by employing a professional network solution. A business that can handle everything reduces most of the stress associated with getting things done.

Businesses can maintain all of their connections updated, organised, and find out the most effective method to communicate with each one of them by employing a professional network solution. When attempting to get things done, a service that can handle everything might help ease some burdens.

LinkedIn- building brand | LinkedIn Vs Twitter & Facebook

What is LinkedIn Brand building? Know about why LinkedIn is better platform for building brand than other platforms like twitter and Facebook.

StartupTalkyAnnika Motamarri

LinkedIn – Name, Logo, and Tagline

LinkedIn Logo

LinkedIn’s logo has been altered twice during the decades of its establishment, although only minimally, staying the same as it was at its commencement. It consists of the preposition “In” and the word “Linked.” There is a little gap between them that makes the parts appear to be merged.

LinkedIn’s principle is connecting, but here with your professional contacts, the name is as obvious. Joining allows you to get linked (or connected), in(to) your network of connections, which should provide you with greater opportunities as a result of your contacts.

The tagline of LinkedIn says, “Connect to Opportunity.”

LinkedIn – Founders

Allen Blue, Reid Hoffman, Konstantin Guericke, Jean-Luc Vaillant, and Eric Ly developed LinkedIn on May 5, 2003.

Allen Blue

Allen was previously the Director of Product Design at SocialNet.com, a social networking site that covers recreational, dating, and professional activities, where he was in charge of product design and the execution of SocialNet’s member-data-driven business model. Allen formerly worked as a freelance web designer and developer for companies such as Stanford University, PayPal, and Microsoft’s Virtual World project.

Reid Hoffman

Reid, an entrepreneur and executive, was integral to the development of several of today’s biggest consumer technology companies, including PayPal and LinkedIn. He has a distinct grasp of customer psychology and the characteristics of viral firms, as well as extensive experience leading organisations from their inception through periods of rapid, “blitz scale” expansion.

Reid invests in firms with network effects and participates in creating their product ecosystems, ranging from Airbnb to Convoy, LinkedIn to PayPal, and Facebook.

Konstantin Guericke

Konstantin Guericke is an Earlybird Partner. He works out of Silicon Valley. As Vice President of Marketing at LinkedIn, Konstantin supervised marketing operations from launch through the first six million members and sustainability.

He was formerly the CEO of Jaxtr Konstantin and has extensive entrepreneurial expertise as the creator of successful startups and as a growth advisor to established businesses. He is currently a board member of multiple firms and a Stanford University student entrepreneur mentor. Konstantin graduated from Stanford University with a B.S. and M.S. in Engineering.

Jean-Luc Vaillant

Jean-Luc is responsible for LinkedIn’s technological infrastructure as Chief Technology Officer. Jean-Luc has been one of LinkedIn’s co-founders. Before starting LinkedIn, Jean-Luc worked for Logitech as a Director of Engineering, overseeing the incorporation of video into MSN 6. Jean-Luc, also worked at Spotlife as Director of Software Development until the firm was purchased by Logitech.

Jean-Luc was previously the Vice President of Development at MatchNet, which bought SocialNet in May 2001. Jean-Luc has also worked for Fujitsu Software Corporation and France Telecom’s research laboratories in engineering management positions. Jean-Luc has an M.S. in Computer Science and a post-graduate degree in Network Engineering from the University of Marseille.

Eric Ly

Presdo, an online application that helps individuals determine the optimal time to get together was founded and run by Eric Ly. Eric. He was formerly a co-founder of LinkedIn, where he served as the original CTO and VP. Eric worked on several of LinkedIn’s fundamental product features, which helped the firm achieve profitability and a rapidly increasing number of users.

LinkedIn – Startup Story

Although LinkedIn was formed in 2002, the website did not go live until 2003. Reid Hoffman collaborated on the website with a group of employees from two of his previous businesses, Socialnet.com and PayPal. Growth was sluggish and restricted at first, but as the site’s functions expanded, it became exponential.

LinkedIn was founded in May of 2003, but it was not an instant success. LinkedIn had just 245 members towards the end of 2003, most of whom were professional links of the founding team. LinkedIn’s growth surged in its second year, thanks to new services aimed at small company owners, such as contact book uploads, Groups, and a collaboration with American Express.

Through 2004, membership grew from the hundreds to the thousands and thousands. By 2005, the site’s membership had surpassed 1 million, and it had developed two revenue-generating lines of business: Jobs and Subscriptions. The firm expanded as well, creating a fourth location.

LinkedIn transformed in 2012, focusing on 3 concepts: simplicity, expansion, and every day. Influencers were introduced, as well as platforms in eight new languages and an iOS app.

LinkedIn continues to improve and offer a more seamless user experience over the following several years, allowing users to make meaningful professional connections. LinkedIn Learning, which provides courses in several topic areas for individuals seeking continuous education possibilities, was founded after it acquired Lynda.com. LinkedIn has more than 500 million members worldwide as of April 2017.

LinkedIn – Vision, and Mission

LinkedIn’s mission is straightforward: “to connect the world’s professionals to make them more successful and productive.”

LinkedIn’s vision statement says, “transform the way the world looks for work, develop, and market professional skills.”

LinkedIn – Services

Everyone can use LinkedIn for free. However, the firm offers and delivers various premium services to its customer base. Among the most important services are:

Marketing Solutions

LinkedIn also offers marketing services in addition to recruiting solutions. LinkedIn, besides being a professional network, also allows businesses to create and execute their ideal marketing tactics in their campaigns. The firm can have a LinkedIn page.

Furthermore, the organisation can strengthen its marketing efforts by utilising technologies for the construction of text ads, sponsored email, and sponsored content. Both of these LinkedIn offerings add to the company’s income creation techniques.

Talent Solutions

All services provided to businesses, including recruiters and job seekers, are referred to as talent solutions. This is a premium tool that assists them in hiring the best qualified and relevant individual that meets all of their criteria. Apart from that, it provides entrepreneurs with the ideal partner for building their firm.

LinkedIn Recruiter, Work With Us Ads, Recruitment Media, Job Slots, and Career Pages are some of the primary services given by LinkedIn under Talent Solutions. Apart from the benefits, LinkedIn offers to recruiters, it is also beneficial to workers.

With millions of courses accessible in premium editions, it helps students improve and perfect their talents. Users of other employment platforms must search for jobs independently. Users must, however, demonstrate their abilities and qualities on LinkedIn in order to establish their brand and attract recruiters. This is, after all, one of LinkedIn’s main offerings.

LinkedIn – Business Model, and Revenue Model

The LinkedIn business model is a multifaceted system that links corporate users with employers and advertisers that want to build their own network of contacts. LinkedIn is recognised as “the professional network” because of its vast community of professionals from every industry and from all over the world. LinkedIn now has over 660 million users from over 200 countries.

According to LinkedIn’s User Agreement, its “services are designed to promote economic opportunity for our members by enabling you and millions of other professionals to meet, exchange ideas, learn, and find opportunities or employees, work, and make decisions in a network of trusted relationships”.

LinkedIn’s revenue streams are:

Marketing solutions
Talent solutions
Premium subscriptions
Pay-per-click job posting

LinkedIn’s whole business strategy is based on job searches, network interactions, and connections. They also have a huge market share compared to their competitors.

With a few tweaks, LinkedIn can maintain its market dominance while simultaneously making a more significant contribution to society, such as increasing its techniques for assisting users who cannot afford a membership to locate and acquire jobs.

LinkedIn – Funding, and Investors

Date	Round	Amount	Lead Investors
Feb 15, 2016	Post-IPO-Equity	–	–
Dec 1, 2009	Secondary Market	$51.6M	–
Oct 22, 2008	Series D	$22.7M	–
Jun 17, 2008	Series D	$53M	Bain Capital Ventures
Jan 29, 2007	Series C	$12.8M	Bessemer Venture Partners, Global Founders Capital
Oct 1, 2004	Series B	$10M	Greylock
Nov 1, 2003	Series A	$4.7M	Sequoia Capital

LinkedIn – Investments

Date	Organization Name	Round	Amount
Apr 20, 2022	Oyster	Series C	$150M
Dec 6, 2021	Trala	Venture Round	$6.9M
Jun 23, 2021	Acryl Data	Seed Round	$9M
Jun 22, 2021	G2	Series D	$157M
Jun 10, 2021	Hopin	Series C	–
May 18, 2021	Piano	Series C	$20M
Mar 24, 2021	Bevy	Series C	$40M
Nov 1, 2019	StarTree	Seed Round	$4M
Apr 25, 2019	Salesloft	Series D	$70M
Apr 3, 2018	Salesloft	Series C	$50M

LinkedIn – Acquisitions

Acquiree Name	About Acquiree	Date	Amount
Paddle HR	Paddle HR helps large enterprises match current employees with new jobs within the company, saving them millions in recruiting costs.	Mar 29, 2022	–
Oribi	Oribi Analytics gives you the actionable insights you need to make solid, data-driven marketing decisions—no coding required.	Feb 28, 2022	–
Jumprope	Jumprope is a platform where users can create, discover, and share how-to videos and tutorials.	Aug 2, 2021	–
UpCounsel	UpCounsel operates an online marketplace for businesses to find and hire legal help based on their preferences in the United States.	Apr 23, 2020	–
Drawbridge	Drawbridge uses large-scale AI and machine learning technology to build Identity solutions that connect, unify, & enhance customer data.	May 28, 2019	–
Sendbloom	Tailored outbound messaging for sales	Dec 1, 2018	–
Glint	Glint offers an employee engagement platform.	Oct 8, 2018	–
Heighten	Heighten is a software as a service company that provides a platform for salespersons to operate faster.	Jun 2, 2017	–
PointDrive	PointDrive is a sales-oriented application that improves the way you share content with customers.	Jul 26, 2016	–
Run Hop	Run Hop specializes in online content distribution to accelerate its efforts to make users’ feeds more engaging.	May 5, 2016	–

LinkedIn – Competitors

LinkedIn – Strengths

Customer Service – Customers are really pleased with the customer service department.
Automation – Automation helped the organisation to grow continuously in response to market needs
Dealers – In addition to advertising the items, its dealers spend on sales training to demonstrate the products’ benefits to customers.
Innovative – LinkedIn has a history of developing innovative products that have been successful.
Integrated – LinkedIn has integrated and acquired a large number of complementary enterprises over the years to expand its supply chain and distribution network.
Workforce – LinkedIn spends heavily on the training and development of its workers, resulting in a highly trained and engaged workforce.
New sectors – LinkedIn is a master at breaking into new sectors, and its development continues to open up new income streams in a variety of industries.

LinkedIn – Future Plans

“LinkedIn is attempting to establish itself as a hub for B2B sales and hire. Continue to do what you’re doing since LinkedIn’s value as a sales channel will only grow over time. Although the methods and platform may evolve, using it as a sales tool will only improve over time,” LinkedIn’s Customer Advisory Board member said.

What happens if LinkedIn restricts organic outreach? Simply said, they will begin to commercialize and demand fees for outbound LinkedIn prospecting. They currently have InMail, but everyone who has used the software knows it isn’t that efficient.

LinkedIn puts a lot of work into these InMail elements, such as accessible and trackable buttons and links, but the InMail messages don’t seem natural as a consequence. They resemble some spammy, blasted message with a huge “Buy now” button on it.

Adding the fact that the cost of InMail is significantly greater than the cost of organic outreach, it’s easy to understand why they haven’t gained much momentum on the platform thus far. This is something expected to change. As LinkedIn’s organic outreach is curtailed, it is expected that its paid messaging solutions to develop and grow.

This is something that is likely to change. As LinkedIn’s organic outreach is constrained, sponsored messaging solutions are projected to develop and proliferate.

LinkedIn – FAQs

What does LinkedIn do?

LinkedIn is a professional and employment-oriented internet service that operates through websites and mobile applications

Who founded LinkedIn?

Allen Blue, Reid Hoffman, Konstantin Guericke, Jean-Luc Vaillant, and Eric Ly developed LinkedIn on May 5, 2003.

When was LinkedIn founded?

Allen Blue, Reid Hoffman, Konstantin Guericke, Jean-Luc Vaillant, and Eric Ly developed LinkedIn on May 5, 2003.

How does LinkedIn make money?

LinkedIn’s whole business strategy is based on job searches, network interactions, and connections.

May 19, 2022

Sprinklr – Enabling Businesses To Keep Their Customers Happy

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 Sprinklr.

Sprinklr must be certainly familiar to anybody with even a basic understanding of the marketing technology sector. It is an international behemoth that offers a plethora of services that competes with HubSpot.

It’s a complicated, powerful technology that lets businesses control the customer experience from beginning to end. However, like with other technologies, there are numerous phrases surrounding it, let’s look into them.

Consumer experience is the aggregate of a consumer’s logical, emotive, perceptual, and behavioural responses at all phases of the shopping experience, including pre-buy, purchasing, and consuming.

Some firms divide the consumer experience between social and online contacts, whereas others describe the consumer experience as human engagement, such as face-to-face retail service or over-the-phone customer care.

Sprinklr is a Software as a service customer experience management platform located in New York City. Sprinklr provides a business application that enables all the front consumer-facing departments, from marketing to customer care, to cooperate across different parts of the organization and engage through digital media. Advertising, modern marketing, modern care, modern research, developer portal, and core platform, are among some of the company’s products.

Sprinklr – Company Highlights

Startup Name	Sprinklr
Industry	Customer experience management
Headquarter	New York, United States
Founders	Ragy Thomas
Founded	September 2009
Key People	Ragy Thomas, CEO & Founder
Areas Served	Worldwide
Website	www.sprinklr.com

About Sprinklr, and How it Works?
Sprinklr – Industry
Sprinklr – Name, Logo, and Tagline
Sprinklr – Founders
Sprinklr – Startup Story
Sprinklr – Vision, and Mission
Sprinklr – Business Model, and Revenue Model
Sprinklr – Funding, and Investors
Sprinklr – Acquisitions
Sprinklr – Competitors
Sprinklr – Future Plans

About Sprinklr, and How it Works?

Sprinklr is a SaaS software company headquartered in New York, that provides a customer experience management platform. Sprinklr is the firm’s technology, which integrates apps for content management, social media marketing, customer service, collaboration, social advertising, social media monitoring, employee advocacy, and social media research.

It is a widely used platform for marketing, advertising, research, and other purposes by many big corporations. The technology, which is categorised into 5 sections, is a SaaS software with variable dashboards:

Modern Marketing: A content management system that enables organisations to provide the correct material to their consumers at the right time, as well as a variety of other features such as Digital Asset Management (DAM), Workflow Automation, Content Analysis, and more.

Modern Engagement: A social media management system that incorporates Publishing and Engagement, Community Management, Distributed Engagement, and more, that helps organisations to manage social media across 35 channels.

Modern Research: A research technology that lets firms assess brand equity measures such as brand recognition, user happiness in real time, product perception, and customer loyalty. Product Insights, Benchmarking, Visual Insights, and more features are included. This is where social listening may be done.

Modern Care: It is a customer service solution that enables companies to use Artificial Intelligence technology to deliver high-volume customer assistance. Peer care, brand care, self-care, and other topics are covered.

Modern Advertising: A customer engagement system that includes features including an ad manager and composer, a targeting audience manager, a creative library, campaign execution and optimization, paid/owned/earned analytics, and more. Sprinklr claims that it enables accurate and tailored advertising efforts as well as the highest return on investment.

Sprinklr’s artificial intelligence deep machine learning algorithms are organised into eight tiers. These layers collect and convert all forms of unstructured data from over 30 channels into actionable structured insights, giving organisations a unified platform to manage customer experience at scale.

The architecture of Sprinklr enforces consistent abstraction and allows users to construct reusable pipeline components for each stage of the machine learning lifecycle, including data collecting, data transformation, model training, model inferences, and machine learning operations.

Sprinklr – Industry

In 2021, the SaaS customer management market grew 14.14 percent year over year, and the industry is predicted to grow by $44.17 billion by the year 2025. The market is divided by end-users (retail, manufacturing, BFSI, telecom and IT, and others), as well as region (Europe, North America, APAC, South America, and MEA).

During the projection timeframe, America will offer the most development potential in the Software as a service customer relationship management market. According to the study, the region will account for 52% of worldwide industry growth and will come to lead the industry by 2025.

The expansion of the regional market may be ascribed to factors such as business adoption of public cloud services and the rising need for customer data analysis. Furthermore, the growing number of businesses in industries like BFSI, telecom and IT, healthcare, retail, and other end-users would enhance the market of the Software as a service customer service management market globally.

The increased usage of cloud-based products is driving the Software as a service customer relationship management industry. Accessibility, dependability, and high-source availability are all advantages of cloud computing. These advantages are prompting businesses all around the world to adopt cloud-based applications.

The usage of SaaS applications such as CRM, HRM, sales management, and financial management is predicted to rise throughout the projection period, thanks to increased expenditures on cloud-computing methods.

Sprinklr – Name, Logo, and Tagline

The name of the firm was inspired by the concept of a brand gently watering its social media presence.

Sprinklr Logo

Sprinklr’s tagline says, “The world’s leading digital-first, proactive customer experience solution.”

Sprinklr – Founders

Ragy Thomas, a technology marketing professional who formerly worked for email marketing firm Bigfoot International, established Sprinklr in September 2009. Thomas started the firm with his own money, running the server out of his own house’s basement.

Ragy Thomas

Ragy Thomas is an American entrepreneur and executive renowned for creating and leading the customer relationship management platform, Sprinklr. He formerly served as president of Epsilon Interactive, which is now owned by Publicis, and created the email marketing firm Bigfoot Interactive.

Sprinklr – Startup Story

Sprinklr was founded on September 24, 2009, in the guest bedroom of the founder and CEO Ragy Thomas’ home in New Jersey, and formally debuted with its first user on January 15, 2010. Dell, Cisco, Microsoft, and Nike were among the first to register for the groundbreaking new platform. They had all been enthralled by Sprinklr’s idea of a Unified Front Office (UFO), as well as the company’s enterprise-class security, privacy, and governance.

Cut to twelve years later, all of those old consumers are still Sprinklr’s clients, and Ragy is still the CEO. Ragy has assembled an experienced management team over the past, including leaders from BazaarVoice, Cisco, Salesforce, Microsoft, Procter & Gamble, the White House, and BMC.

Sprinklr is a speedily growing Software as a service company with five products that cover all front-office tasks (Advertising, Marketing, Research, Engagement, and Care) on a unified cloud with a single customer Id.

Sprinklr has twenty-two locations in fifteen countries and works with more than a thousand global companies, including many top giants like McDonald’s, Allstate, Microsoft, NASA, Verizon, Philips, Nike, Samsung, Santander, Procter & Gamble, and Shell.

Sprinklr – Vision, and Mission

Sprinklr’s mission statement is “To enable every organization on the planet to make their customers happier.”

Sprinklr’s vision statement, “To be the world’s most loved enterprise software company, ever.”

Sprinklr – Business Model, and Revenue Model

Sprinklr’s system is based on a single framework specifically for handling CXM data, allowing for a wide range of client use cases.

Customer Segment

Sprinklr operates on a mainstream market business model, with no major client segmentation. The company’s services are aimed at businesses of all sizes and areas.

Value Proposition

Risk reduction, convenience, and brand/status are the 3 important value propositions offered by Sprinklr.

Customers benefit from the company’s convenience by making their lives easier. Its software platform is a full-featured end-to-end platform that integrates owned, paid, and earned media.

By establishing strong security requirements, the organisation lowers risk. Because of its successes, the corporation has developed a strong reputation. It connects over 4 billion people and serves more than 150 countries. Over 1,200 companies are served, including:

Four of the top five banks in the United States.
Over half of the Fortune 50 companies.
Five of the top eight insurance firms in the United States.
Nine of the top fifteen global IT firms.
Four of the top seven hospitality corporations are located in the United States.

Channels

Sprinklr’s direct sales staff is their primary channel. The firm advertises its services on its social media sites, website, and at seminars, webinars, and conferences.

Cost Structure

Sprinklr’s architecture is value-driven, to provide a premium position through extensive personal attention and regular service improvements.

Cost of services, a variable item, is most likely the main cost driver. Other key cost drivers include customer support/operations, and sales/marketing both of which are fixed expenses.

Sprinklr has a single income stream: revenue from the sale of its services and products to clients.

Sprinklr – Funding, and Investors

Date	Round	Amount	Lead Investors
Sep 9, 2020	Private Equity Round	$200M	Hellman & Friedman
Jun 23, 2017	Secondary Market	–	–
Jul 20, 2016	Series F	$105M	Temasek Holdings
Mar 31, 2015	Series E	$46M	Battery Ventures, ICONIQ Capital, Intel Capital
Apr 29, 2014	Series D	$40M	ICONIQ Capital
Nov 5, 2013	Series C	$18M	Battery Ventures, Intel Capital
Feb 5, 2013	Series B	$15M	Battery Ventures
Mar 7, 2012	Series A	$5M	Battery Ventures

Sprinklr – Acquisitions

Acquiree Name	About Acquiree	Date	Amount
Nanigans	Nanigans provides advertising automation software that powers the in-house performance marketing teams.	Dec 3, 2019	–
Little Bird	Little Bird analyzes social data to deliver insights for smarter enterprise marketing.	Nov 17, 2016	–
postano.com	Postano is a real-time, visual marketing platform that finds and curates the best social fan content	Feb 20, 2016	–
Booshaka	Bookshaka helps marketers leverage customer data to increase sales and engagement.	Nov 2, 2015	–
newBrandAnalytics	newBrandAnalytics offers social BI solutions that deliver consumer intelligence and competitive insights for the hospitality sector.	Jun 2, 2015	–
Scup	Scup is a social media monitoring platform that helps companies take consumer experience through products with multiple acting fronts.	Apr 30, 2015	–
Get Satisfaction	Get Satisfaction is a community platform that fosters online conversations about a company’s products and services.	Apr 8, 2015	–
Pluck	Pluck provides social media software for companies that create communities around their existing web properties.	Mar 4, 2015	–
Branderati	BRANDERATI’s mission is to help brands identify the most passionate “advocate influencers”	Sep 3, 2014	–
TBG Digital	TBG Digital, a Facebook ad optimization platform, enable social network advertisers to monitor and optimize global scale campaigns.	Aug 14, 2014	–

Sprinklr – Competitors

Sprinklr’s main competitors are :

Hootsuite.
Brandwatch.
Salesforce.
Adobe.
Socialbakers.
Microsoft.
Khoros.
Oracle.

Sprinklr – Future Plans

Sprinklr, a software firm located in the United States, plans to construct a development centre in Hyderabad with 200 IT workers. With Telangana IT and Industries Minister KT Rama Rao, the company addressed the idea of building a development centre in Hyderabad. The city’s current IT ecosystem was highlighted by the minister.

The New York-based corporation’s leadership team told Telangana IT and industries minister KT Rama Rao that the business plans to hire 1,000 techies in the projected Hyderabad centre over the next 3 to 5 years.

Rao recently visited a conference in New York, during which he emphasised Telangana’s existing IT sector. He also stated that the state government will back the venture completely.

Sprinklr, which was launched in 2009 by tech executive Ragy Thomas, had its NYSE debut on June 23rd. The company’s platform, Sprinklr, incorporates a number of tools for social advertising, social media marketing, collaboration, content management, employee advocacy, social media research, customer service, and social media monitoring.

The company employs around 3,700 people in 25 countries. South America, Europe, North America, and Asia-Pacific are all represented by the firm.

Sprinklr – FAQs

What does Sprinklr do?

Sprinklr is a Software as a service customer experience management platform located in New York City.

Who founded Sprinklr?

Ragy Thomas established Sprinklr in September 2009.

How does Sprinklr make money?

Sprinklr has a single income stream, the company generates revenue from the sale of its services and products to clients.

Which companies do Sprinklr compete with?

Sprinklr’s top competitors are Hootsuite, Brandwatch, Brandwatch, Salesforce, Adobe, Socialbakers, Microsoft, Khoros, and Oracle.

May 18, 2022

Nike – Ruling The Sneaker Industry

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 Nike.

Sports is indeed a global medium of communication. It penetrates through cultures, nations, and divisions. It’s a long-standing consumer desire as well as a stimulus of human aspirations and development.

Individual effort, collaboration, respect, how to win, how to lose, and how to compete strongly and fairly are all valuable lessons learned via sports. In both good and terrible times, sports inspire, fascinate, and reward us. Sports is a fantastic industry to work in, and an even better one to run.

Nike has risen from a quiet small town, in Oregon to become the world’s leading sports footwear and clothing corporation. It all began with a shoe and a t-shirt. It is now a diverse and sophisticated multinational corporation. Nike is well recognised for its footwear, clothes, and accessories. It offers products under the Nike and Jordan brands, and also via its Jordan Brand and Converse divisions.

Nike – Company Highlights

Startup Name	Nike
Formerly Called	Blue Ribbon Sports, Inc.(1964–1971)
Industry	Apparel, Accessories, Sports equipment
Headquarter	Beaverton, Oregon, U.S.
Founders	Bill Bowerman and Phil Knight
Founded	January 25, 1964
Key People	Phil Knight (Chairman Emeritus), Mark Parker (Executive Chairman), and John Donahoe (President and CEO)
Areas Served	Worldwide
Website	www.nike.com

About Nike, and How it Works?
Nike – Industry
Nike – Name, Logo, and Tagline
Nike – Founders
Nike – Startup Story
Nike – Vision, and Mission
Nike – Business Model, and Revenue Model
Nike – Investments
Nike – Acquisitions
Nike – Competitors
Nike – Controversies
Nike – Future Plans

About Nike, and How it Works?

Nike is an American multinational athletic brand that designs, manufactures, promotes, and distributes footwear, clothing, training accessories, and service. Many of its merchandise are used for leisure or casual activities while being built for sports purposes.

The bulk of Nike’s products are made by independent contractors and sold directly to customers through Nike retail shops and online mediums, as well as through independent retailers, franchisees, and sales agents.

The company’s global headquarters are in the Portland metropolitan region, in Beaverton, Oregon, the United States. It employs about 44,000 people globally, and the company’s brand was valued at $19 billion in 2014, making it the leading name in the sporting world.

Nike sells its products under Nike Pro, Nike Golf, Nike+, Air Jordan, Nike Blazers, Air Max, and other brands, as well as subsidiaries including Hurley, Jordan, and Converse. Nike supports many popular professional athletes and sports clubs and teams throughout the globe, and its trademarks “Just Do It” and the Swoosh emblem is very well known.

Nike – Industry

The sports sector is becoming the world’s largest as more individuals participate in sports and leisure activities to improve and balance their stress, health and work regulation. It has become popular as an active and passive piece of recreation.

Customers are actively investing more in sportswear, with sportswear and accessories accounting for a substantial portion of the cost. Sport in the twenty-first century is an industry characterised by extremism. Market research is currently at the forefront of marketing sports products and accessories, as marketplaces throughout the world become highly competitive.

The worldwide sports equipment and accessories industry is booming, with the rapid acceptance of innovative technology and a willingness to adapt to demographic shifts. The sector is booming because of e-commerce, which is a prominent retail medium these days that allows users to experience all of the available sports equipment manufacturers. It is a one-stop store for all athletics equipment and products, increasing the marketability of worldwide athletic apparel.

Numerous established market participants in retail, e-commerce, sports shops, and wholesale, as well as many new startups, make the sports equipment and accessories industry extremely competitive. Growing consumer health consciousness is predicted to propel the growth of sports equipment throughout the forthcoming years. In addition, the emerging trend of following famous athletes will fuel the accessories industry.

The market for sports equipment and apparel was estimated to be $480 billion in 2021, with a CAGR of 7.2 per cent expected to reach $817 billion by 2026.

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Nike – Name, Logo, and Tagline

The word “Nike” was extracted from Greek mythology where Nike is the Winged Goddess of Victory. The ‘swoosh’ logo is derived from the goddess’s wing, and it represents the sound of movement, speed, drive and, strength.

Nike Logo

Nike’s very popular slogan says, “Just Do It.”

Nike – Founders

Bill Bowerman and Phil Knight founded Nike on January 25, 1964, which was then named “Blue Ribbon Sports”, and then it became “Nike”, Inc. on May 30, 1971.

Founders of Nike – Bowerman and Knight

Phil Knight

Philip Hampson Knight is a multimillionaire American entrepreneur. He, along with being the co-founder, is the former chairman and Chief executive officer of Nike. Forbes ranked Knight as the world’s 24th richest person on July 23, 2020, with his net worth being $54.5 billion.

In addition, he is the co-founder and CEO of Laika, a time-lapse film production company. Knight completed his education at the Stanford Graduate School of Business and the University of Oregon. He competed in track at the University of Oregon under Bill Bowerman, his coach and with him, he eventually co-founded Nike.

Bill Bowerman

William Jay Bowerman was a field and track coach in the United States and a co-founder of Nike, Inc. He coached 51 All-Americans, 31 Olympic competitors, 12 American record-holders, 22 NCAA winners, and 16 sub-4 minute milers in his time.

He despised the title of coach, yet during his 24 years at the University of Oregon, the Duck’s track and field team won every season except one, won four NCAA championships, and placed in the top ten in the country 16 times.

He helped Nike transition from being a supplier of other shoe brands to designing their shoes as a co-founder. He designed several of the company’s popular products, including the Cortez and Waffle Racer.

Nike – Startup Story

Nike’s roots may be traced all the way back to the year 1964 when Blue Ribbon Sports (Nike’s former name) was created. Phil Knight had recently finished his bachelor’s education at the University of Oregon, followed by a Master’s degree at Stanford University, giving him two life-changing encounters.

He ran for the University of Oregon track team, where he met Bill Bowerman, his team’s coach. Aside from his extreme rivalry, Bowerman was preoccupied with upgrading his running shoes and exploring various models on a constant schedule after learning from a local shoemaker.

Knight became the first runner to put Bowerman’s footwear to the check. Bowerman offered to bring one of his shoes and customise it with his own design, perceiving Phil as a comfortable and modest runner with someone to explore.

Knight accepted the invitation, and the shoes reputedly functioned so well that his colleague Davis grabbed them and won gold in the 400-meters track race in the year 1960 Olympics. According to him, Bowerman made the shoes for Otis Davis. Knight attended Stanford’s MBA school after graduating from the University of Oregon, where he wrote a thesis recommending that the manufacturing of running shoes be shifted from Germany to Japan, where labour costs were lower.

Knight put this theory to the test when he went on a trip to Japan shortly after graduation in 1962. He agreed to market the country’s famous Tiger shoes in the United States with a group of Japanese entrepreneurs.

Coach Bowerman endorsed Knight’s initiative, agreeing to an equal partnership with him for the ownership of their new firm, Blue Ribbon Sports, which was formed on January 25, 1964, in Eugene, Oregon.

After starting Blue Ribbon Sports, Knight evaluated the market for his foreign shoes by distributing them out of his car when he returned to America. Early on, it was clear that there was a demand for these less priced but still high-quality alternatives to Adidas and Puma, the industry’s heavyweights.

Nike – Vision, and Mission

Nike’s vision statement says, “To bring inspiration and innovation to every athlete in the world.”

Nike’s mission statement says, “Our mission is what drives us to do everything possible to expand human potential. We do that by creating groundbreaking sports innovations, by making our products more sustainably, by building a creative and diverse global team and by making a positive impact in communities where we live and work.”

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Nike – Business Model, and Revenue Model

Nike’s business model revolves around creating and distributing athletic and sporting goods, such as footwear, apparel, and equipment – as well as certain services. Everything is under one of the world’s most well-known brands.

Customer Segment

Nike sells sports or athletic wear, footwear, and types of equipment. Nike’s market is divided into four primary sections, also in order of revenue, geographically:

China
North America
the Asia Pacific and Latin America
Europe, Middle East, and Africa

Customer-Seller Relationship of Nike

Customers’ interactions are almost entirely limited to self-service. The consumer will examine the brand or product online or offline at the store, purchase it, and put it to use. When necessary, there will be some engagement with a salesman. A FAQs section is also available on the official website, as well as customer service through phone, email, or live chat. Nike also offers Nike ID, a customisation service that tailors Nike items to the preferences of clients.

Value Proposition

Nike makes merchandise that encourages people to participate in sports. Their goods are significantly reliant on the brand’s quality, inventiveness, and prominence. This is the brand’s core, and it’s exactly what buyers want when they buy a pair of Nikes.

Nike has a wide range of products for several sports and hobbies. What counts to the audience, though, is getting a product that has been thoroughly researched and developed using the greatest raw materials and technology available. They also want to maintain the brand’s excellent reputation, which includes superstars like Michael Jordan, Tiger Woods, and Cristiano Ronaldo.

Cost Structure

Sales costs (mainly inventories and warehouses) account for more than $21 billion in annual expenditures for Nike. A further $3 billion is allocated to marketing, which includes spending for promotion and marketing, sponsor, marketing, brand events, and brand personality display. Over $500 million is spent each year on other general and administrative expenditures.

Nike is the world’s largest footwear and clothing retailer, with these sales accounting for the majority of their income. Although its sports footwear is developed with a large investment in technology and high products, the majority of its products are utilized regularly for recreation purposes.

Nike also provides balls, sunglasses, backpacks, gloves, digital gadgets, and other sports equipment and accessories, as well as recreational items for a variety of physical and outdoor activities.

In order of sales, the corporation targets women, men, young athletes, and children. Nike’s goods are divided into six groups: running, basketball, Jordan Brand, soccer, training, and sportswear (lifestyle products). Running, Jordan Brand and Sportswear are Nike’s most profitable segments.

Nike – Investments

Date	Organization Name	Round	Amount
Dec 2, 2021	AllStar Code	Grant	$500K
Oct 14, 2021	SpringHill Entertainment	Venture Round	–
Oct 14, 2021	The SpringHill Company	Private Equity Round	–
Nov 20, 2019	HandsFree Labs	Corporate Round	–
Mar 4, 2014	Reflektion	Series A	$8M
Oct 7, 2013	Grabit Inc.	Series A	$6M
Jan 4, 2011	Rock Health	Grant	$500K

Nike – Acquisitions

Acquiree Name	About Acquiree	Date	Amount
RTFKT	RTFKT is a developer of custom sneakers designed for video game enthusiasts.	Dec 13, 2021	–
Datalogue	Datalogue uses artificial intelligence to automate data preparation.	Feb 8, 2021	–
TraceMe	TraceMe is a technology company connecting athletes, influencers, celebrities through new social media platforms.	Oct 11, 2019	–
Celect	Celect is a cloud-based, predictive analytics SaaS platform that helps retailers optimize their overall inventory portfolios.	Aug 6, 2019	–
Invertex	Invertex leverages 3D scanning to allow a customer specific e-commerce experience and create mass customization product lines.	Apr 9, 2018	–
Zodiac	Zodiac is a predictive customer analytics platform that helps marketers predict consumer behavior.	Mar 22, 2018	–
Virgin Mega USA	Virgin Mega USA is a virtual community that enables users to purchase and experience music products.	Aug 2, 2016	–
Umbro	Umbro is an English sportswear and football equipment supplier.	Oct 23, 2007	–
Converse	We make rad sneakers and apparel.	Jul 9, 2003	$309M
Hurley	Hurley is a big brand providing a large chain of Apparel	Feb 22, 2002	–

Nike – Competitors

Adidas, Skechers USA, Puma, New Balance, Steve Madden, and ASICS America are Nike’s competitors.

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Nike – Controversies

Child Labour Allegations – Nike was chastised in the 1990s for using child labour in factories it hired to make footballs in Pakistan and Cambodia. Despite taking steps to stop or at least limit the practice, Nike continues to outsource production to firms that operate in locations where child labour is difficult to avoid due to a lack of regulation and oversight. An investigation from 2001 revealed instances of child labour and bad working conditions in a Nike facility in Cambodia. The documentary followed six young women who worked 7 days a week, frequently for 16 hours.

Paradise Papers – Nike was one of the firms that utilised offshore entities to evade taxes, according to the Paradise Papers, a series of private electronic papers linked to offshore investment, released on November 5, 2017.

Strikes in China Factory – One of the largest strikes in mainland China occurred in April 2014 at the Yue Yuen Industrial Holdings Dongguan shoe factory, which produces shoes for Nike and other brands. Yue Yuen underpaid a monthly employee by 250 yuan. Yue Yuen’s average monthly wage is 3000 yuan. 70,000 people work at the plant. This practice had been in place for almost two decades.

Nike – Future Plans

Nike has not been spared from the covid outbreak. Revenue decreased by 1% in 2020 after falling by 38% the previous quarter. The company’s ability to enhance profit and generate substantial growth in its digital platform, however, has delighted the market.

Nike’s success has persuaded investors that the company is gaining market share throughout the pandemic and would come back stronger than its rivals. Those aspects, particularly the company’s digital capabilities, reflect well for the firm’s competition in the next 5 years.

Nike originally set a goal of $50 billion in annual revenue by the year 2020 in 2015. Due to previous setbacks when it lost momentum to Adidas, it was obligated to postpone that until 2022, but despite the pandemic’s setbacks, the business is on the path to meeting that goal. To do so, it would have to increase sales at a compound annual rate of approximately 9% from $39.1 billion in fiscal 2019.

When the pandemic was already over, the company, like the rest of the apparel industry, seemed to be well-positioned to capitalise on demand. Stores were reopened, and there was undoubtedly a surge in spending on streetwear such as Nike’s classic sneakers. Nike could be able to reach more than $60 billion in revenue by 2025, three years after surpassing its $50 billion objectives in 2022, thanks to its digital momentum and recovery from the pandemic.

However, the firm’s profit ought to increase as more of its sales shift to online and direct, where it has complete leverage over the selling process and isn’t required to share income with its partner companies. Nike’s Consumer Direct Offense has helped the company gain ground on competitors like Under Armour and Adidas, and this growth is projected to continue in the future years.

Nike seems to have a bright future ahead of them. The stock should continue to be a winner over the next five years, with profit margins improving, a headwind from the end of the covid-19 virus outbreak, and a strong leader in its sector.

Nike – FAQs

What does Nike do?

Nike is an American multinational athletic brand that designs, manufactures, promotes, and distributes footwear, clothing, training accessories, and service.

Who founded Nike?

Bill Bowerman and Phil Knight founded Nike in the year 1964.

What was the former name of Nike?

The company was founded with the name, “Blue Ribbon Sports”.

How does Nike make money?

Nike’s business model is totally based on manufacturing and selling athletic and sporting goods, such as footwear, apparel, and equipment – as well as certain services.

Which companies do Nike compete with?

Adidas, Skechers USA, New Balance, Steve Madden, and ASICS America are among Nike’s competitors.

May 17, 2022

Linktree – Solving Social Media’s Most Annoying Problem

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 Linktree.

For the advertising strategies, some organisations use many social identities and platforms, which may make social media management significantly more difficult. There are several reasons why a firm might have various social media profiles (multiple product lines, locations, teams and so on), but it would be extremely difficult to manage them if you had to log in and out of each separate profile and site to check all of your messages.

Saving users ample time and effort of juggling multiple accounts regularly, social media tools may consolidate pieces of information sent to all of their profiles and networks into a single location.

The adoption of tools to manage social media accounts has increased in the time being with the relevance of customer service operations and social media for marketing. People are turning to Google presently more than ever to select the optimal “social media management solutions” to keep them going up.

Linktree is a social media firm that provides a solution for influencers and e-commerce companies to improve their online visibility across social media platforms such as Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, and Twitch.

Linktree – Company Highlights

Startup Name	Linktree
Headquarters	Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Industry	E-commerce, Social Media
Founders	Alex Zaccaria, Anthony Zaccaria, Nick Humphreys
Founded	2016
Areas Served	Worldwide
Current CEO	Alex Zaccaria
Website	www.linktr.ee

About Linktree and How it Works?
Linktree – Latest News
Linktree – Industry
Linktree – Name, Logo, and Tagline
Linktree – Founders
Linktree – Startup Story
Linktree – Vision and Mission Statement
Linktree – Business Model, and Revenue Model
Linktree – Employees
Linktree – Funding, and Investors
Linktree – Acquisitions
Linktree – Competitors
Linktree – Future Plans

About Linktree and How it Works?

“Link-in-bio” is a popular online idiom that may be used as both a phrase and a whole statement. It’s a short but powerful set of instructions that may bring you to a plethora of information. Linktree is, without a doubt, one of the most well-known link-in-bio services.

Linktree is a social media marketing tool that allows influencers, producers, publications, and companies to distribute their offerings to their audience across social media networks. It enables users to create a website that houses reference links to their online environment and provides audiences with a single link to all of the information.

Big businesses, daily content producers, celebrities and any other person, may all utilise the platform to create a webpage that holds their digital environment, making it simpler to engage with their followers. It streamlines the online economy for eCommerce, allowing social media influencers, entrepreneurs, and enterprises to share, sell, curate, and build their businesses.

Garnier, Shopify, HBO, Wix, Zapier, and YSL are among Linktree’s noteworthy users, as are sports clubs like the Chicago Cubs, Los Angeles Clippers, and Cleveland Cavaliers, as well as celebrities like Selena Gomez and Arnold Schwarzenegger.

A Linktree not only directs followers to the places you want them to go — your other social profiles, your eCommerce store, or the material you want to share — but it also retains them in your online social ecosystem for more time.

Linktree – Latest News

Linktree was valued at $1.3 billion after a $110 million investment round headed by Index Ventures and Coatue. Linktree has raised $55.7 million in two investment rounds over the previous year and a half.

Linktree has many vacancies in its engineering and marketing divisions as it prepares to grow its LA workforce and expand further. For what is effectively a lightweight mini-website builder, that’s a lot.

“Linktree is definitely in a hyper-growth phase, and these fundraise really focus on growing the team. We were seven people in March 2020, we’re now over 230 people globally, and we expect to be hiring another 200 to 300 roles this year between the States and Australia,” said Alex Zaccaria, the CEO of Linktree.

Linktree – Industry

The increase in the number of COVID-19 cases has produced a significant boom in the social media management sector. The massive amounts of data generated by social media sites, the widespread acceptance of social media management solutions, and the development in cloud usage habits among small and medium-sized organisations, bring considerable opportunities for social media, management services providers.

Legal and regulatory limits, issues in administrative workflow, legislation, and a lack of universal standards, on the other hand, impede market expansion. The absence of appropriate statistics for social media management tools, as well as a single solution to deal with the expanding unstructured data concerns, could inhibit the market growth.

This market is anticipated to grow at a Compound Annual Growth Rate of 23.6 per cent, from USD 14.4 billion in 2021 to USD 41.6 billion in 2026. Some of the factors driving the growth of the Social Media Management Market include increased focus on the market and competitive intelligence, enhanced customer experience, increasing customer involvement in social media using smartphones and increased need for search ROI for social media strategy.

Linktree – Name, Logo, and Tagline

Linktree is a tool that lets you broadcast multiple links on social media in a tree-like structure that organises all of your links as branches. So, there’s one link for all your links. This is where its name comes from.

Linktree’s tagline says. “You only get one chance to link on Instagram. Make it do more.”

Linktree – Founders

Alex Zaccaria, Nick Humphreys and Anthony Zaccaria founded Linktree, a freemium social media reference landing page based in Melbourne and Sydney, Australia.

Alex Zaccaria

Alex Zaccaria is the Co-Founder and CEO of Linktree, as well as a co-founder of Bolster. He went to RMIT University to complete his education.

Nick Humphreys

Linktree’s Co-Founder and Creative Director is Nick Humphreys.

Anthony Zaccaria

Anthony Zaccaria is a Co-Founder of Linktree and a Director at Bolster.

Linktree – Startup Story

Linktree was founded in 2016 as a result of frustration with social media platforms that do not allow numerous URLs in the bio of profiles. The website was built in only six hours. Overnight, the server was claimed to have 3,000 users, causing it to fail due to overcrowding.

Linktree, a Melbourne firm that began as a side venture to answer a basic problem, has surpassed its humble beginnings.

Currently, it receives 10,000 new signups every day, with 90% of those coming from outside of Australia. The Linktree narrative begins in 2016 when co-founder Nick Humphreys and brothers Alex and Anthony Zaccaria were running a music and entertainment digital business.

They were managing artists and making announcements on Instagram. They were fed up with having to update their Instagram bio link regularly. The company’s co-founders had newly recruited a developer, but they didn’t have any task for him yet, so they assigned him a task, to come up with a solution that would enable them to add several links. The design was completed in six hours.

According to Zaccaria, Linktree was created to tackle an issue for the agency. However, it turned out that a lot more folks experienced the same issue. This happened to be at the same time that Instagram transitioned from a chronological to an algorithm-based feed, which meant that individuals may be viewing posts from three or four days ago. That bio might have been updated by the time people saw the phrase ‘link in bio.’

Initially, the firm only promoted the solution to its clients, but news spread quickly, and they soon had roughly ten sign-ups each day. The team intended to launch the redesigned Linktree a little more officially. But, before they could, a grateful user took care of it for them.

On a particular day, Linktree received between 3,000 and 4,000 additional signups. Since then, the number hasn’t dropped below 800 each day. Naturally, it is now substantially higher. And thus, Linktree has gradually grown from being a side-hustle to a full-fledged company.

Linktree – Vision and Mission Statement

Linktree’s mission is to, “democratize the internet and to democratize people’s digital presence.”

Linktree – Business Model, and Revenue Model

Linktree’s business plan is based on a freemium concept. In today’s world, many firms employ this concept. A freemium approach entails providing all users with a free, but restricted, profile. This will suffice for the great majority of people. Some people, on the other hand, will crave more. Anyone who wants the premium features will have to pay for them.

Linktree can afford to deliver a basic experience for free as long as a tiny percentage of customers pay for the premium option. To put things into perspective, Linktree has a free plan. This free plan allows users to connect to as many venues as they want, receive payments, and view basic user statistics and analytics. However, Linktree’s “PRO” service provides the user with comprehensive details. They’ll be able to monitor where their views come from, as well as how people act while they’re on the website, and they’ll have access to more comprehensive statistics.

The PRO service also comes with a slew of extra features, such as sophisticated customising. The PRO subscription is $6 per month. An “Enterprise” plan is also available. This is for larger firms, who will receive a custom price based on their requirements. This is also a paid service, with the cost varying depending on the services needed. As you can see, Linktree is a low-cost platform to maintain, but it generates a lot of income because of its large user base.

Linktree – Employees

Co-Founder and CEO – Alex Zaccaria
Co-Founder – Anthony Zaccaria
Co-Founder and Creative Director – Nick Humphreys
Head of Strategy and Operations – Michael Stocks
Head of Growth – Jessica Box
Talent Acquisition Manager – Mitch King
Partnerships Lead – Albert Smith
Engineering Manager – Kurt Weiberth

Linktree – Funding, and Investors

Date	Round	Amount	Lead Investors
Mar 16, 2022	Series B	$110M	Coatue, Index Ventures
Mar 24, 2021	Series B	$45M	Coatue, Index Ventures
Oct 26, 2020	Series A	$10.7M	AirTree Ventures, Insight Partners

Linktree – Acquisitions

Acquiree Name	About Acquiree	Date	Amount
Songlink	Songlink is a fully customizable, on demand smart link solution for music, podcasts and more.	Aug 19, 2021	–

Linktree – Competitors

Linktree – Future Plans

Shoppers are spending more time and making more purchases online than it has ever been, highlighting the need for companies and artists to develop consistent profiles throughout all the social media platforms and make them conveniently searchable.

Linktree keeps up with the times by delivering a trustworthy network that streamlines the information that matters most to consumers while also making commerce and interaction easier for the companies and creators who reach them.

Linktree will make significant investments in making social commerce simpler with the new round of investment, enabling more transactions to be accomplished with minimal taps.

Ever since the Series-A round of financing, Linktree has launched additional customization tools, streaming embeds and video link possibilities, and, allowing customers to broaden their business to offer more, promote more, develop more, and engage more profoundly, all for free.

Aside from product development, Linktree intends to create multi-location creator hubs that will also serve as offices for its expanding rapidly remote teams, beginning in Los Angeles and moving to other cities.

Linktree – FAQs

What does Linktree do?

Who founded Linktree?

Alex Zaccaria, Nick Humphreys and Anthony Zaccaria founded Linktree, a freemium social media reference landing page based in Melbourne and Sydney, Australia.

How does Linktree make money?

Linktree’s business plan is based on a freemium concept. However, Linktree’s “PRO” service provides the user with comprehensive details. The PRO subscription is $6 per month.

Which companies do Linktree compete with?

Top competitors of Linktree are Jotform Apps, ContactInBio, Shorby, bio.fm, Lnk.Bio, Tap Bio, EverLinks, and Campsite.

May 17, 2022

Rivigo – Fastest and Safest Tech-enabled Logistics Company

Company Profile is an initiative by StartupTalky to publish verified information on different startups and organizations.

Only when we thought that logistics can no longer get more interesting and is at the top of its game, Rivigo was set up in 2014 by former Mckinsey consultants Deepak Garg and Gazal Kalra to change the game. With the sole idea of creating a relay truck model, where no vehicle driver would drive for more than four-to-five hours at a stretch and also would return home the same day, Rivigo was born.

In September 2019, Rivigo entered Unicorn club with a valuation of $1.05 billion.

Interesting isn’t it? This is why StartupTalky has brought this Rivigo success story for you to know all about Rivigo app, its Founders, Valuation, Funding and Investors, Growth, Challenges, Competitors, and more.

Rivigo – Company Highlights

Startup Name	Rivigo
Headquarters	Gurgaon, Haryana, India
Sector	Logistics
Founder	Deepak Garg, Gazal Kalra
Founded	2014
Website	rivigo.com

Rivigo – About and How it Works
Rivigo – Industry
Rivigo – Founders and Team
Rivigo – Startup Story
Rivigo – Logo and Tagline
Rivigo – Business Model and Revenue Model
Rivigo – Startup Challenges
Rivigo – Funding and Investors
Rivigo – ESOPs
Rivigo – Growth and Revenue
Rivigo – Competitors
Rivigo – Future Plans

How does Rivigo works?

Rivigo – About and How it Works

With the launch of its relay model of trucking and utilization of cutting edge technology, Rivigo is transforming the nation’s logistics sector. This innovative method not only improves travel routes but also puts truck drivers’ welfare first, guaranteeing that they may sleep soundly in their own beds every night instead of having to endure the long, 20–30 day trips that were previously the norm.

A truck relay! Sounds interesting right? Let’s see how this platform caters to its target audience.

The mobile application of Rivigo is built for the drivers to make their life simpler by providing a one-stop solution for all their needs. This application is more image-based than text and is available in 11 different languages. Also, it tracks everything a driver needs to do, from notification of duties to surveys.

The pilot gets the duty alert on the phone and he reaches the pit stop. There, he scans his unique QR code which is a testament that he has reached the required destination. This way the incoming pilot gets the alert on his application to the subsequent pilot that he needs to hand over.

The interesting part is that there is a technological handshake through QR codes on the two pilots’ apps. The pilot who is taking over has a checklist regarding the truck’s condition and shipments, which he needs to verify through the Rivigo application. All this takes less than five minutes following which the pilot can drive off to his next pit stop.

This whole magnanimous process of routing and the assigning of pilots is taken care of by Rivigo algorithms. Rivigo’s trucks are all IoT-enabled with the feature that tracks the vehicle in real-time. This ensures reliability and avoids breakdowns.

This smart and real-time monitoring took off to another level when Rivigo launched refrigerated trucks for the fresh eatables producing sector of the economy. Here, the clients can check the thermostat and regulate it through the mobile application.

Rivigo Pilot Story

Rivigo – Industry

According to a recent survey of the economy, the Indian road freight market is estimated to be worth around $150 billion. However, Rivigo believes that they are operating in a monopoly market with no other company that is in direct competition with the company. The model of Rivigo is one of a kind in a large enough market with room for multiple players and there are multiple different problems to solve in the sector.

Rivigo – Founders and Team

Deepak Garg and Gazal Kalra were the Founders of Rivigo. Gazal left the company in 2018 but Deepak is still there, aligned with Rivigo.

Deepak Garg

Deepak Garg graduated from IIT Kanpur and then obtained his MBA degree from IIM, Lucknow. Deepak started as a software developer at Geometric Ltd. and by the time he launched Rivigo. Deepak had spent close to a decade at McKinsey & Company as an Associate Partner and was deeply involved in the logistics and automotive sector. After this, Deepak founded Rivigo, where he is serving as the pilot.

Gazal Kalra

Gazal has an MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business after completing her Master’s degree in Public Administration from Harvard Kennedy School. Before launching Rivigo, Gazal was a Consultant at the World Bank Group. Interestingly, she was also a parliamentary associate of Lok Sabha for close to two years. Gazal was a Business Analyst at McKinsey & Company and eventually became the Co-founder of Rivigo. Gazal resigned from Rivigo in October 2018 and is currently the Founder & CEO of a company that is in stealth mode, as of May 2022.

The Rivigo employee strength is listed as somewhere between 1000-5000 employees, as far as its Linkedin profile is concerned

Rivigo – Startup Story

All of this started when McKinsey and the National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) happened to conduct a joint study to identify where are India’s most needed skilled jobs. And to everybody’s surprise Logistics and construction emerged as the top sectors. That’s exactly when Deepak Garg decided to take some time off from work, and flea on a road trip to interact and connect directly with the truck drivers to understand the reasons behind the shortage of drivers.

“It all started with a road trip, listening to the truck drivers and realizing that they have been marginalized and looked at as outcasts, which needed to change,” says the founder of one a kind Truck Relay.

While Deepak was just getting acquainted with the idea of the startup, he met with the future co-founder of Rivigo, Ghazal Kalra over coffee. That time, she had just gotten back from the US after finishing her joint program and was looking to put together a startup. Deepak and Gazal had not worked together yet, but Deepak knew Gazal through her husband who happened to be his colleague at McKinsey. To get a primary idea of what was happening on-ground, Gazal decided to hit the road herself. She was looking to understand the underlying reason behind Indians not taking up paid jobs like truck drivers. And the most surprising fact was this was the condition despite the massive unemployment ratios in the country.

Reminiscing, she said, “At a village in Rajasthan some three-four unemployed men were sitting around playing cards. I asked them, “Why don’t you consider the option of becoming a truck driver?” They took great offense to the question. One guy said no one would marry him if he took that option, while another said he had studied till Class 8, not for such a job.”

Analyzing this stigma on the mindsets of the people, this duo realized that there were several reasons why the “truck driving” profession has traditionally been frowned upon. Among these reasons, the biggest one was owing to drivers staying on the road for a stretch of days. So this meant that truck drivers go home three-four times a year. Also, this profession was perceived to be a high-risk job mainly because of factors like poor living conditions, vulnerability to contracting HIV, drug, and alcohol addiction, and pressure from truck owners to drive more often and faster. Somehow both these co-founders knew that if they work out an arrangement where they could send the driver home the very same day, the whole scenario could be reversed.

Rivigo – Logo and Tagline

Rivigo’s Tagline is ‘Making Logistics Human’

Rivigo Logo

Rivigo – Business Model and Revenue Model

Rivigo to date has always declined to reveal the pricing modules that it charges to its app users. Rivigo’s net worth is unknown but the company made it a point by saying that its clients see a saving of 12% to 20% in overall logistics costs when they use the Rivigo application. However, Rivigo has not been able to pass on the entire cost-benefit to clients.

Rivigo – Startup Challenges

Theoretically, this system sounds simple enough. But in reality, this process is very cumbersome. Rivigo has created a network of over 70 pit stops across the country, which translates to a driving distance of around 250 km or around five hours for a driver between pit stops. However, to make this as effortless as imagined, the team has to ensure full control and monitoring of the mechanism.

This is not it. The pilot who is handing over the truck again needs to board another truck that is coming in the opposite direction. So, essentially the trip planning and routing are required to be done optimally so that trucks are traveling in both directions at about a similar time.

Also, one of the major challenges faced by Rivigo is finding the right set of drivers and, therefore, requires huge investments to build an effective HR process. Both the co-founders have tried to create a hiring process for drivers that is as stringent as the management hires involving checks for behavior, attitude, and technical skills. All drivers go through strict and regulated training programs at Rivigo.

Rivigo – Funding and Investors

In September 2019, Rivigo entered the Unicorn club of Indian startups with a valuation of $1.05 billion. Rivigo has raised a total of $268.7 mn in funding to date via 11 funding rounds. The valuation of Rivigo is currently over $1 bn. Rivigo now aims to raise between $50-$100 mn in a Pre-IPO round before conducting an IPO in the next 18-24 months, as of May 2022.

Rivigo Funding Details are as follows:

Date	Amount	Series	Investors
December 1, 2015	–	Debt Financing	Trifecta Capital
December 17, 2015	$30 Million	Series B	Elevation Capital
October 6, 2016	$75 Million	Series C	Warburg Pincus
March 8, 2017	$12.84 Million	Debt Financing	–
January 12, 2018	$41.11 Million	Series D	Elevation Capital
July 10, 2019	$65 Million	Series E	SAIF Partners, Warburg Pincus
September 25, 2019	$4.97 Million		KB Global Platform Fund
December 2019	$20 Million	Series F	SAIF Partners, Spring Canter Investment Ltd.
January 6, 2020	$3.46 Million	Debt	Trifecta Capital
January 7, 2020	$3.21 Million	Series G	Elevation Capital (Formerly SAIF Partners
November 2, 2020	$10 Million	Series G	Elevation Capital

Rivigo – ESOPs

Rivigo adopted a new stock option compensation plan for its employees on May 16, 2022. This has been done under Rivigo Stock Option Plan 2022, for which the Rivigo board has already passed a resolution. This new plan of Rivigo will have 22,730 options each convertible into one equity share and is estimated to be valued at around $15 mn.

Rivigo – Growth and Revenue

Hailed as the fastest-growing surface transport services company in India, Rivigo has seen many ups since its establishment in 2014. Some of the major growth highlights of Rivigo are:

Owns a fleet of 5,000+ high-tech trucks
Reached over 4000 cities
Driven over 1 billion kilometers
More than half a mile trips are confirmed
Covers over 29,000 pin codes across the country
Boasts of having more than 200,000 fleet owners
Curated an undisturbed network of over 70 pit stops and 200 branches.
Recently launched National Freight Index (NFI) to provide live freight rates for different lanes and vehicles across the country.

Rivigo’s revenue rose to INR 1,028 crore in FY19. It had a loss of INR 600 crore for the fiscal year 2019, compared to a loss of INR 270 crore in 2018. The revenue of the Deepak Garg-headed company has increased by 5% in FY20, rising to INR 1,080 crore.

The expenditure of Rivigo also witnessed an increase of 5%, which was previously recorded at INR 1,532 cr in FY19 and became INR 1,622 cr in FY20. This made the losses of Rivigo increase by 6%. Rivigo’s losses were recorded at INR 511 crore (FY19) and surged to become INR 541 crore during FY20.

Rivigo – Competitors

Although Rivigo believes they do not have any direct competition in the industry with their relay logistics, in recent years we could see truck marketplaces such as Blackbuck, Lobb, and Trukky entering the market. Not just that, there are ventures like Delhivery and Ecom Express, operating in the same segment, who offers a holistic combination of warehousing, line haul, and last-mile delivery services. Some of the top competitors of Rivigo include:

Blackbuck
Lobb
Trukky
Delhivery
Ecom Express

Rivigo – Future Plans

Gazal said: “Rivigo is only getting started: Our philosophy from day one has been that this is a large sector to solve for. We want to build Rivigo into an institution that will last beyond our lifetime. Our aspiration keeps growing every year. But the main aspiration is quite simple – make India number one in logistics in the world.” Rivigo is currently planning to launch an IPO within the next 18-24 months after seeing a Pre-IPO round.

FAQs

What is Rivigo?

Rivigo is a technology-enabled logistics platform provider that offers transport services. The company’s full-stack logistics offering includes relay-led trucking and freight marketplace.

Who are Rivigo Founders?

Deepak Garg and Gazal Kalra are the Founders of Rivigo.

Who are the Top Competitors of Rivigo?

Rivigo faces competition from:

Blackbuck
Lobb
Trukky
Delhivery
Ecom Express

What is Rivigo valuation?

Rivigo has a valuation of over $1 bn.

How can you book a Rivigo truck?

A Rivigo truck can be booked by simply going to their website

May 16, 2022

Remitout: An Exclusive Aid For Overseas Transfer

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 Remitout.

We saw a lot of parents and students come to bank branches with a bunch of questions regarding paying their tuition fees, rents, etc. overseas. Most of the time, they would fill out forms that would have cancellations or unclear information, this often resulted in funds getting returned after a lot of deductions due to charges and exchange rates. People go through the same running around and stress for sending money overseas in time which should have been the last thing to worry if at all in the entire admission process.

Remitout allows its users to complete the registration process withhin few minutes and then use the platform as per their need easily. Remitout provides an online platform that allows users to remit money from India to other countries. The service can be used to send money for various purposes including travel, medical fees, education fees, immigration fees, and more.

Remitout- Company Highlights

Company Name	Remitout Service Private Limited
Headquarter	Mumbai
Founders	Nafees Dadi & Kritika Saini
Sector	Overseas Money Transfer
Founded	2017
Website	remitout.com
Registered Entity Name	Remitout Service Private Limited

Remitout- About and How It Works
Remitout- Founders
Remitout- Startup Story
Remitout- Name, Tagline and Logo
Remitout- Vision and Mission
Remitout- Target Market Size
Remitout- Challenges
Remitout- Products And Services
Remitout- Customers And Clients
Remitout- Recoginition and Achievements

Remitout- About and How It Works

Remitout offers you different services that make easy online money transfers using Remitout’s forex card. Remitout allows the registered users to buy and sell currencies at the live rate by an easy process. It allows its users to get the account loaded with money and then cashed it out under any available currency.

Remitout is an online money transfer service for students. The process is done in 5 easy steps on the website from registration to making payment using a secure payment gateway. The platform enables easy and fast access to the facility by availing the option of a one-time sign-up process. Remitout is also noted to associate with RBI Authorised AD II License holders only. They are completely secure with no hidden charges.

Remitout provides a simplified online platform for Indian students to transfer their education-related funds out of India. With the number of students opting to study overseas growing each year, so is the requirement for overseas money transfers. As these students are first-time remitters of overseas funds there are a lot of doubts and concerns, with Remitout we want to make an overseas money transfer as simple as purchasing products/services on one commerce website.

In the current calculation, Remitout has successfully helped 3000 students to make their remittances and trust the platform. The future goal of Remitout can be assumed to gain the trust of more students and parents by becoming their remittance partner. Remitout is also known to provide currency exchange in 15 different currencies.

Remitout- Founders

Nafees Dadi

Nafees Dadi successfully straddled several mantles during his stint at renowned banks at ABN Amro, HDFC, and ICICI, he managed their trade processes and teams while playing a vital role in setting up policies. Surprised by the time most students and parents spent on money transfers abroad at the bank, he wanted to do something to ease the process. This resulted in him co-founding Remitout Service Private Limited and he played a crucial role in its inception and growth. At Remitout, he oversees business functions, technology, advancement, and strategic alliances.

Kritika Saini

kritika Saini has completed her Executive MBA from Narsee Monjee Institute of management studies in Jan 2019.Kritika is a banker turned entrepreneur. Before starting out as an enterpreneur, she was noted to work with different banks such as HDFC, ICICI, Bank of Maharashtra, etc. Kritika Saini was reported to work in varied industries during her banking job ranging from wealth management, SHG finance, Foreign Trade, etc. In Remitout, Kritika Saini works and oversees various activities and work such as Business Functions & advancement, Marketing, promotions, product development, and PR activities.

Remitout- Startup Story

The co-founders of Remitout were both shocked by the time taken to fulfill the whole process of transferring money. With the increased demand for money transfer, the traditional method was not the best option. Nafees Dadi always wanted to do something to help those students with the money-wiring process. His role in the development and growth of Remitout is too crucial due to the basic thought process behind it. He noticed that the time taken by each parent to fill up the form and complete the transaction process was quite high.

And another essential thing noticed by him was that even after consuming so much time, there is always greater room for mistakes. Mistakes made in the application form can actually cancel the transaction nullifying the efforts and time usage. Hence, the rise of Remitout was initiated after the whole scenario and calculation. While doing a basic search on the project, the co-founders of Remitout realized that India is listed in the second position for migrated students after China. Making them affirm their decision of initiating the project because, the higher the number of students away from the country for education, the more the need to find a good alternative to the traditional method.

A few sessions with the team and discussion then led to the creation of the now known Remitout platform with a detailed workflow system.

Remitout- Name, Tagline and Logo

Remitout Logo

Remitout is a joint word of Remit=Remittance and Out=Outward. Remitting money outward of India. Remitout, a name which is a mix of Remittances outside India typically called “Outward Remittances” in Bank.

Remitout Logo consists of an orange color square covered with two square brackets like shaped orange color objects. On the left side of Logo, the word “Remitout” is written.

Remitout- Vision and Mission

They believe that a genuine exchange transaction of a student paying fees overseas should be as simple as making any local transfer within India. The processes and jargon used make it complicated for first timers, hence the company thought of making the transfer process as it should be. Simple and Easy.

Remitout- Target Market Size

Education domestic or overseas is a growing market and shall keep growing as it’s the need of the future. As the company is in the money transfer business for students our market size directly correlates to the number of students going overseas from India. The number of students going overseas has been growing at a robust average annual growth rate of 22% in a span of 16 years (as per so n so data). Annually the money which is sent from India towards education expenses is close to $ 4 billion growing at an average of 44% every year.

Remitout- Challenges

With zero users and an online business model targeting students, both of the founders started working day and night on various WhatsApp and other social media groups formed for student discussions. They gave their inputs in queries related to foreign exchange and fee payments. It took a while but they were able to demonstrate their expertise in the field and convince students to try their service.

The biggest challenge for Remitout was to get people to trust a new entity with a large sum of money and more importantly for transacting online with their funds. The Remitout founders tried for weeks to speak to everybody through various online and offline channels until they got their very first student on the website.

The students were delighted with the overall experience and got a few of their friends to register with them. The team called each of the students taking feedback on their experience and requesting them to refer their services to their contacts. It took a while but the word of mouth spread around, they were able to get students to come to them because of the experience and not any marketing activities.

Remitout- Products And Services

By digitizing the application process, they have been able to have error-free transactions, the forms are filled automatically and hence are clear to read. The process is completed in easy steps which can be done in the comfort of the customer’s home hence there is no more running around or unanswered questions. Now anybody who uses a computer can send money overseas by themselves.

They introduced an additional platform towards the end of 2019 which worked on the same base principle. However, this time around they wanted to enter into the B2B space by partnering with Overseas Education Consultants. So, they created a platform for these consultants who can now register with them and process their student remittances from their offices. This helps these consultants to provide an additional service that is relevant to their processing time and at the same time helps them reach more students in different parts of India.

Remitout- Customers And Clients

The team has been working on transparency to students on processes and charges, keeping low expenditure avoiding any unwarranted expenses, and working on the profit-making model.

They have always worked on word-of-mouth references to get their next customer, this is a slow process but a definite as per their belief. Along with this, the team has made some partnerships overseas with companies that receive payments from Indian students for their visa processes. With their new vertical they are also partnering with various consultants to get them a better reach.

Remitout- Recoginition and Achievements

With simple and realistic goals, Remitout has achieved its registration in Startup India. For them, their biggest achievement is to maintain the average 5-star rating on Google with 700+ reviews.

Conclusion

Remitout was started with the purpose of providing a helping hand to students and parents looking for money transfers across the globe. They provided an easy way for money transfer through their medium by removing the complicated process of transferring money via bank. With the simple purpose, they are currently in a good development pace with constant updates to maintain their fame.

FAQs

Is Remitout a better option for the needy?

Remitout provides hassle-free service with good security. Hence it can be considered a better option to use when required.

When was Remitout introduced to the world?

Remitout was introduced to the world on 24th August 2017 by the joint efforts of Nafees Dadi and Kritika Saini.

What is the business model of Remitout?

Remitout works on the business model of Business to Consumer (B2C).

May 14, 2022

Navi Success Story – Driving Smooth Transition of Financial Services Even Amidst Pandemic!

Company Profile is an initiative by StartupTalky to publish verified information on different startups and organizations.

Consumer durable financing demand is expanding across India as the country’s urban population grows, brand awareness grows, and disposable income rises. Because it was the only secure and available choice for customers during the lockdown, internet options reported increased usage of financial services.

The Indian banking system is undergoing an unprecedented shift. Digital lending strategies are getting popular, putting banks’ conventional retail lending procedures on alert.

Even though the transition is pandemic-driven, the technology revolution that swept the financial world in the pre-Covid eras was on the verge of launching digital lending platforms. However, the virus made it grow at an incredible rate.

In 2018, Sachin Bansal and Ankit Agarwal formed a financial services firm based in India called Navi. The headquarters of the company are in Bangalore. Digital personal loans, home loans, healthcare insurance, mutual funds, and microloans are all available through Navi.

The business today has millions of users, more than 3 billion apps downloaded, 825 thousand or more investors, 36 lakh or more satisfied customers, and 105 thousand or more health insurance policies sold to date.

Navi – Company Highlights

Startup Name	Navi Technologies
Also Known As	BAC Acquisitions (BACQ), NAVI Finserv
Legal Name	Navi Technologies Pvt. Ltd.
Headquarters	Bengaluru, Karnataka, India
Industry	Banking, Financial Services, FinTech, Insurance
Founders	Ankit Agarwal, Sachin Bansal
Founded	2018
Areas Served	India
Current CEO	Sachin Bansal
Website	www.navi.com

Navi – About and How it Works?
Navi – Industry
Navi – Founders and Team
Navi – Startup Story
Navi – Name, Logo, and Tagline
Navi – Vision and Mission
Navi – Business Model and Revenue Model
Navi – Funding, and Investors
Navi – Investments
Navi – Acquisitions
Navi – Growth and Revenue
Navi – Products and Services
Navi – Layoffs
Navi – Competitors
Navi – Future Plans

Navi – About and How it Works?

Navi is working on a digital lending platform that will make finance-based services more economical, simple, and relevant to everyone. Navi is a digital lending software that offers you loans up to Rs. 20 lakh in an entirely cashless approach. The company’s platform enables customers to access financial services at a low cost through customer-friendly and innovation-driven enterprises in the financial services, banking, and insurance spaces.

IT and consulting services, non-banking financial services such as loans and microfinance, insurance products, and mutual funds are among Navi’s integrated activities. The Securities and Exchange Board of India has also granted the business a stockbroking and investment advisory license, according to the regulatory filing (SEBI).

The duration of the loans offered by Navi ranges from 3 to 36 months. Navi Finserv also offers 2-wheeler, residential, local business, and educational loans in addition to consumer loans.

Navi works in three simple steps:

Select the loan and EMI amount.
Complete KYC using Aadhar and PAN.
Instantly, money is transferred to your bank account.

Navi – Industry

During the projected period, the digital lending market is estimated to grow at a CAGR of around 11.9% (2022–2026). Because of the COVID-19 outbreak, SMEs all around the world struggled to raise funds to keep their operations running during the crisis period.

An important driver that is driving the industry’s expansion is shifting customer expectations and behavior as a result of the numerous advantages provided by the digitalization of banking and financial services. Consumers come from various backgrounds and will need the loan for several reasons, including personal loans, SME financing, and house loans, among many others.

The lending environment has evolved dramatically over the years because of the fast implementation of digitalization in the BFSI business. In several areas around the world, conventional lending is still practiced. The advantages given by digital solution providers, on the other hand, are progressively paving the way for business adoption of digital lending solutions and services.

Furthermore, various technical improvements, such as the widespread usage of smartphones, have resulted in a rise in the acceptance of digital banking across a variety of end-user industries. Artificial intelligence, machine learning and cloud computing are also beneficial to financial institutions and banks because they can analyze large volumes of client data. This data and information are then compared to produce findings on the appropriate assistance that clients desire, thereby assisting in the development of customer relationships.

Navi – Founders and Team

Navi was founded by Ankit Agarwal and Sachin Bansal in 2018.

Sachin Bansal - Co-founder of Navi — Sachin Bansal – Co-founder of Navi

Ankit Agarwal

Navi’s Chief Financial Officer is Ankit Agarwal. Ankit Agarwal studied computer science at IIT Delhi and then obtained an MBA from Ahmedabad’s Indian Institute of Management. Agarwal was previously the VP at Deutsche Bank. He also served as VP and Director at Bank of America before founding Navi with Sachin Bansal.

Sachin Bansal

Sachin Bansal joined Techspan after finishing his degree and worked there for a few weeks. As a senior software engineer, he joined Amazon.com India in 2006. He quit Amazon in 2007 and co-founded Flipkart with Binny Bansal, his business partner. Bansal had served as the chairman of Flipkart for over 10 years before leaving the company in 2018. The ex-founder of Flipkart then founded Navi in the same year.

Navi Technologies chief Sachin Bansal announced that the company has appointed Vidit Aatrey as its independent director. The co-founder and CEO of Meesho, Aatrey’s appointment has been effective since April 9th, which is still subject to the completion of some formalities. Abhijit Bose, Shripad Nadkarni, and Usha Narayanan are the three other directors named by the company; Bose is the Head of India of WhatsApp and the founder of Ezetap; and Nadkarni has worked with reputed organizations previously like Coca-Cola, Johnson & Johnson, and more. and Narayanan has previous experiences with Lovelock & Lewes Chartered Accountants LLP, PricewaterhouseCoopers, and more.

Navi – Startup Story

After leaving Flipkart in December 2018, Sachin Bansal and an IIT-Delhi alumnus created BACQ Acquisitions Private Limited, which was eventually rebranded ad Navi Technologies Private Limited.

Soon after leaving Flipkart, the co-founder and chairman changed course to continue his mission to make his long-term dream happen. Sachin Bansal had his heart set on another great thing, even as his Flipkart dream came to an end. Bansal’s insatiable pursuit of something new can be observed in the fact that he has only spent a few months since leaving Flipkart without investing in or acquiring a firm, mostly for his current venture, Navi Technologies.

Despite the lockdown, Navi’s founder and CEO invested INR 3,000 crore in his firm and built a personal lending app. Flipkart, like Navi, which has acquired a series of businesses in the last 2 years, was built on a foundation of mergers.

Navi – Name, Logo, and Tagline

Navi stands for “new” which depicts what the company stands for.

The new India is becoming more and more accepting when it comes to the digitalization of financial services and banking, which is what Navi does.

Navi’s tagline says, “Get Instant Loan using Navi.”

Company Logo of Navi

Navi – Vision and Mission

Navi’s mission statement says, “Our mission is to provide financial products and services that are simple, affordable and accessible by building a customer-centric and technology-first organization.”

Navi – Business Model and Revenue Model

When it comes to Navi Technologies Business Model, the company has emphasized technology-enabled financial and banking services, as well as the seamless integration of the neo banking model with traditional banking services and assurance. To gain domain understanding, Sachin Bansal has teamed up with fellow IIT Delhi alumni Ankit Agarwal, who is a banker by profession.

“Building a universal bank is a reflection of our commitment to provide financial services to those who need them most. Our vision is to go beyond what hitherto has been broadly defined as ‘financial inclusion and provide access to formal financial services using technology that people can use intuitively and easily.” – Sachin Bansal.

It’s worth mentioning that Navi only operated for 3 to 4 months in FY19. Navi’s NBFC business provided over 72% of this income in the form of interest income and related fees. The remaining 8% and 20% of revenue came from the insurance industry and advisory services, respectively.

Navi – Funding, and Investors

Navi Technologies has raised funding in over 6 rounds the latest round of funding was raised on May 12, 2022.

Date	Round	Amount	Lead Investors
May 12, 2022	Debt Financing Round	$ 72.62 million	–
Apr 13, 2020	Private Equity Round	$26.51 million	Gaja Capital
Apr 2, 2020	Funding Round	$398.99 million	Sachin Bansal
Jan 10, 2020	Venture Round	$30 million	International Finance Corporation
Nov 14, 2019	Funding Round	$117.97 million	Sachin Bansal
Jan 31, 2019	Angel Round	$7 million	Sachin Bansal

Navi Technologies, a four-year-old financial business helmed by Sachin Bansal, is the latest Indian fintech startup to submit a DRHP with market regulator SEBI. The loan-providing fintech business plans to raise INR 3,350 crore in the public market.

According to the DRHP obtained, the IPO offer would be made only through a new share issued. This means that no firm shareholders will sell their shares during the Initial Public Offering.

While reading the DRHP, the fact that Navi Technologies’ promoter, Sachin Bansal, has a massive 97.39% interest in the business was found. Because the IPO offer does not contain an OFS component, he will keep 97.39% of the stock after the Public Offering. This implies he owns more of his firm than the well-known Nayar family, which runs Nykaa.

Navi – Investments

Navi Technologies has invested in 6 companies.

Date	Organization Name	Round	Amount
Feb 10, 2022	Infra.Market	Debt Financing	$30 million
Jul 24, 2019	Kissht	Debt Financing	$6.06 million
Jul 17, 2019	boAt	Debt Financing	$2.42 million
Jul 3, 2019	Bounce	Debt Financing	$1.2 million
Apr 24, 2019	KrazyBee	Series B	$12.10 million
Mar 29, 2019	Bounce	Debt Financing	$4 million

Navi – Acquisitions

Navi Technologies has acquired 2 businesses to date.

Acquiree Name	About Acquiree	Date	Amount
DHFL General Insurance	DHFL General Insurance. is a Third Party Car Insurance company.	Jan 2, 2020	–
MavenHive	MavenHive is a Bangalore based tech consulting firm.	Dec 26, 2019	–

Navi – Growth and Revenue

Sachin Bansal, who has also been the founder of Flipkart, after getting an offer of $16 billion from Walmart, decided to sell his 5.5% stake in the company for Rs 7650 crore. However, this time with Navi, which he founded with a vision to build a financial services behemoth over the next two decades, he remained steadfast, which is the primary reason behind the growth of Navi Technologies. The company is already in the segments of asset management, insurance, and lending and is further looking to expand its horizons. The founder currently owns 97.39% of the company’s stakes, as per the reports dated April 3, 2022.

The Navi company has launched a metaverse-based fund of funds scheme, Navi Metaverse ETF Fund of Fund, with the help of its mutual fund arm. Anmol Como Broking sponsors the Fund of Fund scheme of Navi, which will be managed by Navi Mutual Fund. The Fund of Fund scheme-owned assets will be managed by Navi AMC Limited.

According to the company’s current documents filed, Sachin Bansal-led Navi Technologies became profitable in the fiscal year 2021, achieving a combined profit of Rs 71 crore. In the previous fiscal year, the firm had lost Rs 8 crore.

On August 18, 2023, Navi reported revenue of Rs. 438.7 crore for the first quarter of FY24 and the previous quarter (Q4 FY23). However, there was a 2.3X increase when compared to the first quarter of the previous fiscal year (Q1 FY23).

Navi Technologies Revenue Breakdown

Navi Technologies Revenue Verticals	FY21	FY20
Interest Income	INR 451 cr	INR 143.02 cr
Other Operating Revenue	INR 235.6 cr	INR 40.3 cr
Insurance Business Revenue	INR 92.4 cr	INR 15.7 cr

Navi’s sales increased by over 143% as the firm’s operations developed and the usage of banking and financial services via internet channels soared during the pandemic. The income was Rs 137 crore, up from Rs 56 crore the previous year, 2020.

The company’s total earnings increased by 251% from Rs 199 crore in FY20 to Rs 779 crore in FY21, demonstrating the company’s expansion.

The expenditures of Navi have increased by 217% year on year, from Rs 219 crore to Rs 673.8 crore (YoY).

Navi Technologies Expenses Breakdown

Navi Technologies Expenses Verticals	FY21	FY20
Employee Benefit Expenses	INR 169.7 cr	INR 61.6 cr
Advertising and Promotional Expenses	INR 38.7 cr	INR 1 cr
Other Operating and Admin Expenses	INR 190 cr	INR 95.58 cr
Impairment Loss on Financial Assets	INR 187.2 cr	INR 23.8 cr
Finance Cost	INR 88.2 cr	INR 37.02 cr

Navi Technologies Financials

Navi Technologies Financial Breakdown	FY21	FY20
Operating Revenue	INR 779 cr	INR 199 cr
Total Expenses	INR 673.8 cr	INR 219 cr
Profit/Loss	Profit of INR 71.2 cr	Loss of INR 8.07 cr
EBITDA Margin	30.15%	22.02%

The EBITDA of Navi improved positively. On a unit level, Navi Technologies has been reported to have spent Rs 0.86 to earn a single rupee of revenue during FY21.

Bansal had broken down the lending business, stating that the company’s microfinance loan book was worth Rs 1,500 crore and its non-microfinance loan book was worth Rs 600 crore. According to Bansal, the company was disbursing loans of Rs 350 crore each month.

“We are now comparing ourselves with banks and NBFCs. That is why we describe ourselves as a financial services company that happens to be good in technology. I don’t like the word fintech, lot of fintechs don’t have (lend from) their own books,” Bansal had said.

Navi – Products and Services

Navi App

Navi app was released in 2020, and according to latest news the Navi Mutual Fund has effectively empowered 1 million Indians on October, 2023 by making investing money on the Navi app simple and reasonable.

Navi – Layoffs

According to sources, Navi just let go of 200 employees across the divisions of technology, products, and analytics on July 13, 2023. Employees had no prior knowledge of layoffs, according to sources. Meanwhile, a recruiter reported that the upper management had downsizing plans and that HR policies were in place to make sure that not much severance was needed to be paid.

Company spokeperson said, “Navi conducts performance appraisals twice a year, which results in expected departures from the company. However, Navi continues to have multiple open positions and the company is expected to continue hiring many new employees this year, including a batch of 150+ campus hires who will be joining in August.”

Navi – Competitors

Navi Technologies’ main rivals include:

Autorite Des Marches Financiers
FIS
Abhipra Capital
Tacotax

Navi – Future Plans

Navi Technologies, owned by Sachin Bansal, is allegedly aiming to file a draft red herring prospectus (DRHP) with SEBI for a 4,000 crore initial public offering (IPO) shortly.

According to sources, the firm plans to make its initial public offering (IPO) in June of this year. The IPO will be conducted purely through fresh share issuance, with no component of an OFS (offer for sale). Bansal owns almost 97% of the firm and will not dilute his holdings in the IPO.

The IPO is intended to aid Navi’s expansion in personal loans, microfinancing, and mutual funds, in addition to its mutual fund operations. Navi is also expected to utilize the funds to fund its expansion goals, which include creating a loan book of 20,000 crores in the next two years and obtaining roughly 15,000 crores in debt from the public markets over the same time frame.

Navi became a public company in February 2022, in preparation for an initial public offering. The fintech firm has enlisted the aid of ICICI Securities, BofA Securities, and Axis Capital to manage its public offering.

FAQs

Who founded Navi?

Sachin Bansal and Ankit Agarwal founded Navi.

When was Navi founded?

Navi was founded by Ankit Agarwal and Sachin Bansal in 2018.

Is Navi NBFC registered?

Navi Finserv (Navi) is an RBI-registered non-banking financial company (NBFC).

How does Navi operate?

Who are Navi founders?

The Navi startup founders are Sachin Bansal and Ankit Agarwal.

May 12, 2022

Flexnest – A Fitness Tech Startup Helping People to Get Fit in the Comfort of Their Home

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 Flexnest.

Fitness has become the top priority for everyone. As the concerns for fitness are increasing, the demand for fitness equipment is also getting intensified. There is a huge growth in the fitness equipment market. The global fitness equipment market size is projected to reach $14.8 billion by 2028.

Exercising has become the daily routine for fitness enthusiasts. But, sticking to a regular exercise schedule isn’t easy as there come plenty of potential hindrances, the biggest being the time. People want to resolve these concerns in the comfort of their homes.

Flexnest has come up with the fitness solutions and smart equipment for home use. Flexnest App guides on fitness equipment usage and measuring progress in achieving fitness. Read to know more about Flexnest, its founder, the services offered, startup idea & story.

Flexnest – Company Highlights

Startup Name	Flexnest
Headquarters	Gurugram
Industry	Home Fitness, Fitness Technology
Founder	Ms. Rhea Singh Anand and Raunaq Singh Anand
Founded	2021
Revenue	$5 Million
Website	theflexnest.com

Flexnest – About
Flexnest – Industry
Flexnest – Founders and Team
Flexnest – The Idea and Startup Story
Flexnest – Name, Tagline, and Logo
Flexnest – Products & Services
Flexnest – Business Model and Revenue Model
Flexnest – Customer Acquisition
Flexnest – Challenges Faced
Flexnest – Growth
Flexnest – Funding
Flexnest – Competitors
Flexnest – Recognition and Achievements
Flexnest – Future Plans

Flexnest – About

Founded in 2021, Flexnest is a Gurugram-based fitness startup that offers premium equipment and fitness solutions for home use. The startup integrates its smart equipment like its bikes and rowers, with content solutions to enable people to workout from the comfort of their homes, via the Flexnest App. The App provides content such as trainer-led cycling and rowing classes, virtual sessions, and strength equipment classes.

The company has a wide range of products, ranging from smart equipment like the Flexbikes and Flexrowers, to strength equipment like Flexibell, Flexikettle, Flex barbell and workout accessories such as smart weighing scale, massage guns, yoga range, etc.

The company’s mission is to cater to the At-Home fitness segment and provide their customers with a one stop shop for all their fitness needs. The ultimate aim is to become the largest D2C Fitness brand in India and launch more innovative and integrated products and have D2C retail brand stores in high-traffic, premium malls in metro cities like Delhi, Mumbai & Bangalore. The company plans to eventually manufacture everything in India.

Flexnest – Industry

The global home fitness equipment market is expected to grow from $10.73 billion in 2021, to $14.74 billion in 2028, at a CAGR of 4.6 percent, buoyed by the launch of smart workout equipment such as bikes and treadmills, a Fortune Business Insights report said. According to a similar study conducted by Research and Markets, the global home fitness equipment market is expected to reach $8.34 billion by 2025. The global trend of connected fitness is quite similar.

Flexnest currently has 40 SKUs and plans to increase that number by the end of 2022.

Flexnest went from 0-$5 million (over INR 37.88 crore) in annual revenue generated in the last year since its launch and is currently projecting annualized revenue of INR 100 Crore between April 2022 and March 2023.

Flexnest – Founders and Team

Flexnest is founded by fitness enthusiasts Rhea and Raunaq Singh Anand and their main aim to open this company as these peoples had seen running growth in Fitness industry and because of the COVID-19 pandemic, which has necessitated social distancing norms as well as unexpected lockdowns, more people are working out at home than ever before. Rhea and Raunaq Singh Anand, a husband-and-wife fitness enthusiast duo who had been looking for Peloton-like solutions in India. They had lived in the United States for some time and had personally used the Peloton bike. “After the pandemic hit and all gyms closed, they had to look for fitness products to use at home and were astounded to discover that there was nothing in the Indian market like Flexnest.

Flexnest currently has 40 employees.

Flexnest – The Idea and Startup Story

Flexnest was incepted to address primarily 2 problems which Rhea and Raunaq saw. Firstly, there was no D2C brand that offered a full portfolio of premium fitness equipment exclusively for home-use. And secondly, there was no brand offering integrated hardware/software/content solutions like Peloton, Mirror, Tonal etc. in the west. Flexnest addresses both these issues effectively.

The idea came to us when the Covid-19 pandemic hit.

When they started a year and a half ago, they realized that while connected fitness was booming around the world, in India it was non-existent. If our phones and TVs can evolve to smart phones and smart TVs with limitless possibilities, why not our fitness equipment? They saw the opportunity of changing the way Indians worked out and embarked on their journey.

They realized that if work from home could become the future, so could workout from home.

When they launched their website in January 2021, they got a tremendous response from not just metro cities as they had expected, but from smaller remote towns which otherwise had no access to fitness products.

Flexnest – Name, Tagline, and Logo

Flexnest Logo

The name Flexnest is an amalgamation of 2 worlds Flex meaning Flexing, working out and Nest as in ones home. The two word together stand for working out and getting fit in the comfort of your nest, your home.

Flexnest – Products & Services

Flexnest is changing the way people workout from their homes. Usually people buy equipment from brand A, use videos/content from brand B and measure their progress with brand C. Flexnest is different, they can do all 3.

Flexnest is not just about buying equipment. It is a full solution for home fitness – There is hardware (Equipment) and software (content – classes, videos) integration.

Flexnest allows you to buy equipment, do classes with Flexnest trainers, measure your progress through the Flexscale, all while being part of a community. It is a fully integrated, immersive workout experience like India has never seen before.

Flexnest has hardware (equipment), software (App’s on the iOS and Android stores), content (shot in their studios with world class instructors) and a community of like-minded people who work out together, share their stories and motivate each other; doing this, they close the loop. They offer the highest quality fitness classes streamed to their users homes across India.

Flexnest – Business Model and Revenue Model

The revenue model is based on product and subscription, presently it retails its products with a one-year complimentary membership. Post one year, customers will pay a subscription to use the content.

Flexnest’s products are currently sold online only and are available on ecommerce marketplaces such as Amazon and Flipkart, other than its website. While the third-party marketplaces facilitate 30% of the startup’s product sales, 70% of the sales are from its own website.

Flexnest – Customer Acquisition

People believed in their idea and also saw the gap in the market that they were going to fill by launching Flexnest.

They followed a D2C approach and retailed the products on their website. To spread the word initially they focussed on social media and influencer marketing.

All of their initial marketing was organic as people found the brand to be an answer to their fitness problems.

Since they were solving a problem that existed and were the first ones to do so, initial traction came automatically.

Flexnest – Challenges Faced

At Flexnest, their vision has been to offer a complete solution and not just equipment to their consumers; so, they actually had to build multiple companies within Flexnest. Today Flexnest is a hardware company, a software company, a media company and a D2C consumer brand.

No fitness company in India has offered a solution so holistic and comprehensive till date.

They had to build strengths in completely different verticals all at the same time, which was a big challenge. E.g. Design and manufacture products, develop software technology (App), set up media product studios to shoot classes, Pan-India distribution infrastructure – all in parallel.

To add to this, they had to overcome all these challenges in the middle of the biggest pandemic this world has ever seen – with supply chain disruptions, work from home, etc.

Flexnest was incorporated on 1st October 2020 and launched and started revenues in January 2021.

Flexnest – Growth

Flexnest is at an annualised revenue of USD 5 million currently and have the dominant share in the connected fitness equipment market in India.

They operate from two houses currently and will be expanding to 5 warehouses in the next few months.

Flexnest has a userbase of 40,000 out of which 20,000 use their connected offerings.

Flexnest – Funding

They are currently in talks to raise a Series A funding round.

Flexnest – Competitors

Flexnest has tough competition with cult.fit.

Flexnest – Recognition and Achievements

Their biggest achievement would be growing from 0 to 5 Million USD Annualised Revenue, all while being bootstrapped with no VC funding.

Awards and recognitions:

Images – Most Admired D2C Brand of The Year (Health & Wellness)
Top 100 D2C Brands – Sutra HR
Top 500 Challenger Brands – Yourstory

Flexnest – Future Plans

Flexnest’s future plans include:

Completing their smart equipment portfolio by launching other connected products.
Have D2C retail-Brand stores in high-traffic, premium malls in New Delhi, Bangalore, Mumbai etc.
Reverse integrate – Eventually manufacture everything in India.
Currently projecting annualized revenue of INR 100 Crore between April 2022 and March 2023.

FAQs

Who is the founder of Flexnest?

Rhea Singh Anand and Raunaq Singh Anand are the founders of Flexnest.

When was Flexnest founded?

Flexnest was founded in 2021 in Gurugram.

What does Flexnest do?

Flexnest is a fitness startup that integrates its smart equipment like its bikes and rowers, with content solutions to enable people to workout from the comfort of their homes, via the Flexnest App.

What is the revenue of Flexnest?

Flexnest has revenue of $5 Million.

May 11, 2022

Tempus – Company Having World’s Biggest Library of Molecular and Clinical Data

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 Tempus.

Technology is a vast field and in the field of science, technology is getting advanced rapidly. Biotechnology is a department of applied science that uses living organisms and their products to produce various processes. It is a very important part of the industry sector in the economy.

Tempus is a technology company which has created the world’s biggest library of molecular and clinical data. It is making accurate medicine through the power and the promising nature of data and artificial understanding. Read the Tempus success story below.

Tempus – Company Highlights

Company Name	Tempus
Headquarters	Chicago, IL, US
Industry	Analytics, Artificial Intelligence, Biotechnology, Healthcare, Medical, and Software
Founder	Eric Lefkofsky
Founded	2015
Website	tempus.com

Tempus – About
Tempus – Founder
Tempus – Business & Revenue Model
Tempus – Funding & Investors
Tempus – Growth & Future
Tempus – Competitors

About Tempus

Tempus – About

Tempus built an operating system to make information accessible and beneficial for physicians, researchers and patients. The mission and the vision of the company is to change the world in the field of medicine. It enables physicians to deliver personalized attention to everyone’s diagnosis. Tempus also works with partners to encourage development and discovery.

The company started with the concept of curing patients for a variety of diseases, starting from cancer to depression-like disorders. It is currently also curing Covid patients. The founder of the company had his own personal reasons for founding Tempus.

‘My wife was diagnosed with breast cancer about five years ago, and I was amazed how little data was actually used as a part of her therapy, largely because our system makes it hard for doctors to access data when making real-time clinical decisions,’ Lefkofsky said. ‘It became clear to me that I needed to try and tackle this problem, and I founded Tempus soon afterwards.’

Tempus – Founder

Eric Lefkofsky is the founder and the CEO of Tempus. Currently, he is the Chairman and the Co-Founder of Groupon, Lightbank, and Lefkofsky Family Foundation. At Groupon he previously served as the CEO of the company which is an e-commerce marketplace. He is also the founder of MediaBank. He graduated from the University of Michigan.

Tempus – Business & Revenue Model

‘We try to infuse as much data and technology as we can into the diagnosis itself,’ Lefkofsky says.

The Tempus business model lies in the fact that they do not only focus on cancer but also focuses on other programs which include cardiology, diabetes, mental health or any other infectious or deadly disease. The company offers a service that matches eligible patients to clinical trials. Tempus also licenses de-identified patient data to other players in the oncology industry. Tempus offers a service for the psychiatrists to use a patient’s hereditary information to determine the best treatments for major depressive disorders.

The main Tempus labs revenue model lies in sequencing the genome of cancer patients’ tumors. It helps the doctors to decide which treatment is more effective for which patient.

Tempus – Funding & Investors

Tempus has raised a total funding of $1.1 Billion. Tempus is funded by 10 investors. It has got 5 lead investors. Baillie Gifford is the most recent investor.

Date	Transaction Name	Money Raised	Lead Investors
December 10, 2020	Series G	$200 million	Google
December 10, 2020	Debt Financing	$250 million	–
March 13, 2020	Series G	$100 million	–
May 30, 2019	Series F	$200 million	Baillie Gifford
August 29, 2018	Series E	$110 million	Baillie Gifford
March 20, 2018	Series D	$80 million	T.Rowe Price
September 25, 2017	Series C	$70 million	New Enterprise Associates and Eevolution
April 17, 2017	Series B	$30 million	–
November 22, 2016	Series B	$10 million	–
June 20, 2016	Series B	$10 million	–

Tempus – Growth & Future

‘We couldn’t be more thrilled with our progress to date, and we’re honored to be surrounded by world-class investors, collaborators, partners and an incredibly talented team here at Tempus,’ Lefkofsky said in a statement.

Tempus focuses on the analysis and the gathering of clinical and molecular data. The company considers itself to be the most comprehensive data set in the industry. Tempus believes that it has been only possible with the help of its clinical partners. The company has got relationships with various cancer centers, physicians and health systems. Tempus is growing in such a way that now the company’s technology is affecting 1 in 4 cancer victims in the country.

Tempus also recently announced its collaboration with A2 Biotherapeutics to develop a (CDx) companion diagnostic test. It is also looking forward towards the development of more CDx tests for A2’s different clinical development programs.

Tempus – Competitors

The top Tempus competitors COTA, Flatiron Health and Fabric Genomics.

COTA is one of the biggest competitors of Tempus. It is headquartered at Boston, MA, USA and was founded in 2011. It works in the Healthcare Technology field.
Flatiron Health is perceived as one of the biggest rivals of Tempus. It is headquartered at New York, NY, USA and was founded in 2012.
Fabric Genomics is also one of the top competitors of Tempus. It is headquartered at Oakland, California, USA and was founded in 2009.

Conclusion

Tempus is making precision medicine a reality through the power and promise of data and artificial intelligence. With the world’s largest library of clinical and molecular data, and an operating system to make that data accessible and useful, we enable physicians to make real-time, data-driven decisions to deliver personalized patient care, and in parallel, facilitate discovery, development, and delivery of optimized therapeutic options for patients through distinctive solution sets.

FAQs

What is Tempus?

Tempus is a technology company that has built the world’s largest library of clinical and molecular data and an operating system to make that information accessible and useful for patients, physicians, and researchers.

What is Tempus testing?

The Tempus|TO test compares a patient’s tumor molecular data to a large internal database of annotated tumor data to identify a likely diagnosis that may impact standard of care therapy decisions, clinical trial enrollment, and reimbursement for therapies.

Who is the founder of Tempus?

Eric Lefkofsky is the founder & CEO of Tempus.

When was Tempus founded?

Tempus was founded in 2015.

What type of sequencing does Tempus perform?

Our labs sequence both DNA and RNA from tumor samples as well as matched DNA from normal samples. Sequencing options include a targeted panel of 648 genes (at 500x coverage), whole exome (at 150x coverage), and whole genome (at 30x coverage).

What is Tempus’ turnaround time for test results?

Tempus results can be expected 9-14 days after samples are received (both blood and tissue). Sequencing will not begin until all required specimens are received.

Who can order the Tempus test?

Clinicians treating patients who suffer from depression, anxiety, or other psychiatric conditions can order a Tempus test.

Who are the top competitors of Tempus?

Top competitors of Tempus are:

COTA
Flatiron Health
Fabric Genomics

May 9, 2022

Hike – The Journey of the Indian Messaging App and How it is Building a Web3 Gaming Platform?

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

Development in the communication sector has been fast and amazing. From letters to landline phones; from pagers to smartphones, we have come a long way. And now, one of the most loved ways of communicating is messaging apps, which are making communication not just easy but fun too!

Speaking of the most trending messaging apps, one name that we won’t afford to miss is the Hike Messenger app owned by Kavin Bharti Mittal. With over 100 million users, this homegrown messaging app of India has given fair competition to WhatsApp, the world’s most preferred messenger app. Founded by Kavin Bharti Mittal in 2012, Hike Messenger was once a billion-dollar startup. However, it failed to capitalise on the headstart it received, and slackened down through the years ultimately to be shut down.

Hike Messenger is Officially Shut down and has been removed from Google Play Store and Apple App Store. However, the company still exists. Yes, though Hike has been shutdown as a messenger, the company has not stopped altogether. It is currently aiming to build a web3 gaming platform (Rush Gaming Universe), and might also successfully pivot. Of its messaging platform, the Hike Stickers can still be used though on other platforms like Signal, Whatsapp, and Telegram by downloading “Stickers by Hike”.

The company has constantly looked for monetisation plans through which it would be benefitted and had also pivoted on numerous occasions, but it failed on most occasions. The Hike messenger app certainly failed with the tough competition it got from Whatsapp. However, there was one occasion where it tried to create a super app, it focused on Hike Sticker Chat, it turned the way of gateway for microtransactions with HikeLand, and has finally decided to launch Vibe and Rush in 2021, with a complete focus on multiplying the app revenues.

Read on to know more about this successful Indian startup, its founder, startup story, business and revenue model, its current revenues, competitors, funding and investors, growth, acquisitions, future plans and more.

Hike Messenger – Company Highlights

Startup Name	Hike Messenger
Headquarter	New Delhi
Founder/Owner	Kavin Bharti Mittal
Sector	Messaging App
Founded	2012
Funding	$261 Million
Revenue	$1.5 mn (Rs 11.9 crore in FY20)
Parent Organization	Hike Private Limited
Website	hike.in

Hike Messenger Officially Shuts Down (Latest News)
Hike Messenger – About
Hike Messenger – Founder
Hike Messenger – Startup Story | How it started
Hike Messenger – Name, Tagline and Logo
Hike Messenger – Business and Revenue Model
Hike Messenger – User Acquisition
Hike Messenger – Competitors
Hike Messenger – Funding and Investors
Hike Messenger – Growth and Revenue
Hike Messenger – Acquisitions and Investments
Hike Messenger – Future Plans

Hike Messenger Officially Shuts Down (Latest News)

Hike shut down its messaging service, by shifting its focus to two new social products—Rush and Vibe. It was rebranded as Hike Sticker Chat with a sticker-centric experience in April 2019

11/ Finally → StickerChat by hike.

Millions of users spending 35 mins / day.

A very loyal user base that has been a fantastic launchpad for us to bring our innovations to the market → HikeMoji & HikeLand.

— Kavin Bharti Mittal (@kavinbm) January 6, 2021

On January 6, 2021, Hike informed its users that it will be shutting down its messenger and was given a deadline till January 14 to migrate their data.

Kavin Mittal didn’t give a reason for shutting down the service, Mittal tweeted that global network effects are too strong for India to have its own messenger.

India won’t have its own messenger.

Global network effects are too strong (unless India bans Western companies)@telegram UX, Groups better than @signalapp

Both are very good. As entities they have the right incentives (more aligned with consumers) unlike FB products.

— Kavin Bharti Mittal (@kavinbm) January 10, 2021

Hike Messenger – About

Hike is an Indian app and essentially is a cool messaging platform for chatting with funky and killer stickers that came in to innovate the messaging world. Hike, founded in 2012 by Kavin Bharti Mittal, was the first messaging and social technology company made in India. Some of the features of Hike are:

Two-way option: This option on Hike enables the users to add or accept the contacts before messaging and also the application has security measures that allow the users to prevent messages from strangers.
Offline messages: The users can receive message notifications even when the mobile data is disabled.
Free SMS: Hike messenger allows its users to send free SMS to any given number.
Theme-based interface: The whole idea of Hike is having conversations using some interesting graphic mediums like reaction stickers etc.

Hike Messenger introduced HikeLand

Tencent-backed Hike Messenger has introduced a new offering called HikeLand which is a mobile virtual world where people can participate in many activities. HikeLand allows users to hang out with their friends and watch videos together in a virtual environment. The move has come when sharing experiences via social networks has strengthened due to people staying at homes.

The early preview of HikeLand includes two shared experiences – ‘Home’ and ‘Big Screen’.

It explained that the home screen will be only for the user themselves, more like a private space. In this mode, users can watch YouTube videos and talk about it with another user. There will be eight themes to choose from and the home screen can be customized depending on the likes of the user. No one who is uninvited can enter this room.

The Big screen, on the other hand, is unlike Home and is more open. Hike’s Big Screen allows users to watch videos with other people. To start with, Big Screen is currently powered by YouTube and would be running shows 24×7 around comedy, sports, and others. Users that enjoy similar content can be a part of it. While viewing the show/video of choice, users can find out more about others watching the same content through their profiles and even message them.

1/ We’ve been wondering why the world is still using decade old social experiences built for the 2G world – Messaging, Feed etc → It's time to move on

Today @hikeapp we begin to change the way people hang out online. The ‘early preview’ for #HikeLand rolls out to a 100% today! pic.twitter.com/fg5sdZX2aZ

— Kavin Bharti Mittal (@kavinbm) June 17, 2020

“With advancements in technology, so much is possible today that wasn’t even just a few years ago. The world has evolved, it’s time for social products as well. With HikeLand, we’re launching the world’s first mobile-first Virtual World. A brand new take on how people can hangout online, transcending beyond the limitations of the offline world”, Hike founder and CEO Kavin Bharti Mittal said.

The company said HikeLand is a homegrown product that has been built from the ground up keeping India in mind.

“It is an India-first product built for a mobile-first/mobile-only audience. Leveraging diversity of art skills and resources, HikeLand also brought together a design team of not only UI (user interface) and UX (user experience) but also fashion, art, and 3D artists”, it added.

Rush Gaming Universe

Hike introduced Rush Avatar. It would be debuting with Rush Avatar, which is planned to stand as an NFT and digital identity for the Rush users, thereby moving the Rush Gaming Universe to the blockchain on February 28, 2022.

The Rush Avatar NFTs would be offered by Hike for free to the most active members of its community, where the rarest editions would go to the most active members. Furthermore, it has also been decided that 10% of the Launch Edition’s supply would be further used for future community giveaways, NFT sales, and partnerships.

The messenger app company has previously tried to pivot via a super app business, where Hike planned to integrate the digital wallet, ticketbooking and ecommerce services into the app. However, this didn’t pay off well for the company, which is why it ended the same idea in 2019. hike then tried to run its Hike Sticker Chat, focusing on it largely, but even this didn’t materialize profitably for the company, and was shuttered in January 2021. HikeLand was the next venture that it tried, where Hike turned into a gateway for microtransactions, and in-app spending.

Launched in June 2020, HikeLand saw a good traction right form its testing days, where the users spent a minimum of 50 minutes in the app on an average. This is why the HikeLand idea was again integrated into Vibe and Rush. Hike launched Vibe and Rush in 2021, where:

Vibe is a rebranded version of HikeLand and offers interactive social media experiences to the customers.
Rush is a mini-games platform by Hike, which would offer the users casual gaming experiences that will include microtransactions.

Hike also has HikeMoji, which extends animated avatars for the users, and will further be incorporated into Vibe and Rush.

“With Vibe & Rush, we now have 2 Virtual Worlds that focus on a single ‘Job to be Done’ each thus simplifying the UX. A much better approach for today’s world that is unconstrained by cheap, fast data & powerful smartphones,” tweeted Mittal recently.

Hike Messenger – Founder

Kavin Bharti Mittal is the founder and CEO of Indian instant messaging app Hike, and also the son of business tycoon Bharti Mittal.

Founder/Owner Hike — **Kavin Bharti Mittal Founder & CEO, Hike**

Before he started his venture, the founder of hike was studying Electronics and Electrical Engineering at the University of New York and then went on to Imperial College in London to study further. He first joined McLaren Racing as an Associate Vehicle Engineer Intern, after which he joined as an Associate Technology Manager at Google. Then it was Goldman Sachs that Mittal joined as Summer Analyst before founding Hike, where he is still serving as the Co-founder and CEO.

Hike Messenger – Startup Story | How it started

All of this was based on a basic insight to make the messaging module a little bit more interesting, and right when the world was busy chatting on Whatsapp and Facebook, Kavin, owner of the hike app, thought of coming up with a trendy and cool way of messaging. This is why Hike was launched on 12-12-12. It’s quite interesting that this application was made available in more than 100 countries ever since its launch.

Hike Messenger – Name, Tagline and Logo

Hike 4.0 launched on 26 August 2015 with the tagline ‘Got a Gang? Get on Hike’

Hike Logo

Hike ran a full fledged marketing and brand campaign across TV, radio, and Cinemas. The tagline for one of their TV ad was “Hike up your life” to convince youth to download the Hike app.

Hike Messenger – Business and Revenue Model

Hike Messenger believed in providing the users with an interactive social media chatting app that helped them to communicate and make their communication interesting via an amusing set of stickers. It later went on to build a virtual economy business model.

Hike’s operational revenues were disclosed to be Rs 13K in FY20, while its total revenues stood at Rs 11.9 cr during the same fiscal. Almost all of its revenue came from sources other than the operations of the company, which includes the interest income on fixed deposits, current investments and more. There was around 55% decline in the Hike revenues from FY19, where the messenger picked up revenues close to Rs 26.4 cr and around a 70% decline from Rs 39.6 cr revenues, which it pulled off in FY18.

Hike Messenger – User Acquisition

Operating in multiple countries can be a tedious task but Hike kept the users glued to the app using multiple marketing methods.

Following that, in August 2013, Hike launched its first-ever digital campaign which ran under the banner “keep your friends close”. The advertisement was a big hit and the users took it very well. Kavin knew that the key to any successful business is customer satisfaction. Hence the team started taking in real-time feedback from the users for further and better development of the product.

What also worked well for Hike was their tie-up with Airtel. They ran a scheme that if the user had an Airtel postpaid connection in India, they would be given free data for three months for using Hike Messenger. This campaign gave Hike the needed hike in their consumer base.

Hike also tied up with various brands like Dominos, CCD, Pizza Hut for discount coupons. This intrigued the actual customers and brought potential customers on board. With all these creative marketing strategies, Hike gained a base of 15 million loyal customers in just one year of inception.

Hike Messenger – Competitors

Hike Messenger competes with messaging platforms like WhatsApp, WeChat, Signal, Viber, and Telegram. All these platforms have a great market standing and each has its own set of user bases. Though Hike provides a unique kind of interface, it still faces cut-throat competition from these platforms.

Hike Messenger – Funding and Investors

Hike has raised over $261M in funding over 7 rounds. Their last funding was raised on Aug 24, 2021 from a Venture round led by Justin Mateen and Sean Rad. The round further saw participation from Kunal Shah, Binny Bansal, Softbank Vision Fund CEO Rajeev Mishra and others. Hike hasn’t disclosed the amount yet. After this, Hike recently received an undisclosed amount of funding from Jump Crypto, Tribe Capital and Republic Crypto, which came on May 6, 2022, and is reported to be utilised for its web3 gaming platform, Rush Gaming Universe (RGU). Developing RGU’s product strategy and hiring new talents across verticals would be the sole aim of the funding that Hike received via this Venture round.

The recent funds, according to the company, will be utilized to hire skilled employees across a wide range of sectors in order to improve the product strategy of Hike.

Date	Stage	Amount	Investors
May 6, 2022	Venture Round	–	–
August 24 2021	Corporate Round	–	Sean Rad, Justin Mateen
August 16, 2016	Series D	$175M	Foxconn Technology Group, Tencent Holdings
January 11, 2016	Venture Round	–	–
August 26, 2014	Series C	$65M	Tiger Global Management
March 31, 2014	Series B	$14M	Bharti Soft Bank
April 25, 2013	Series A	$7M	Bharti Soft Bank

Hike was launched in 2012 and soon after in the next year they raised $7 million from Bharti, SoftBank and others. This funding went straight into launching the most popular USP of the app – STICKERS to increase their customer engagement. In March 2014, Hike raised $14 Million from Bharti SoftBank, and put this money into more innovative features on the application, soon Hike crossed the 20 Million user mark. In August 2014, Hike again raised $65 Million from Tiger Global.

In January 2016, Hike raised an undisclosed amount in a venture round. Again, in August 2016, Hike raised around $175 million led by Tencent and Foxconn Technology Group in a Series D round. With this latest round of funding, the startup was valued at $1.4 billion and achieved the “unicorn” status. However, its valuation decreased eventually and it lost its unicorn valuation.

Hike Messenger – Growth and Revenue

In just one year of its launch, Hike was rated #1 App on Android Playstore, iOS Appstore, and Windows Store and had a customer base of 15 million.
In 7 years, more than 35 million user base out of which 60% of the base is in India and the rest is in Germany, the Middle East, and other countries around the globe.

The Hike Messenger revenues dropped significantly in FY20, which was valued at Rs 11.9 cr lately in FY20. Along with its revenues, the company also witnessed a decline of its operational income, expenses and losses throughout the years.

Hike Operational Revenue Decline

Years	Hike Operational Revenue
FY20	Rs 13K
FY19	Rs 3.5 lakhs
FY18	Rs 51 lakhs

Hike Expenses Decline

Hike’s expenses and losses also dropped. However, this was rather due to the decline of its operations rather than its business growth. The company’s total expenses were noted to be Rs 193 crore in FY20, which is 16% and 56% lower than the previous years, FY19, FY18 respectively. The losses of Hike also declined at the rate of 12% YOY.

Years	Hike Expenses
FY20	Rs 193 cr
FY19	Rs 232 cr
FY18	Rs 439.2 cr

Hike Losses Decline

Years	Hike Losses
FY20	Rs 181 cr
FY19	Rs 205.8 cr
FY18	Rs 399.5 cr

The company spent around Rs 193 cr in FY20, which was 16% lower that what it expended in FY19, and around 56% lower than what it spent in FY18.

Hike Expenses Breakdown

Hike Expenses Verticals	FY20	FY19
Employee benefits	Rs 81.7 cr	Rs 109.3 cr
Server cost	Rs 31.8 cr	Rs 33.6 cr
Marketing expenses	Rs 23.4 cr	Rs 24.1 cr
In app costs	Rs 6.6 cr	Rs 4 cr
Facility expenses	Rs 4.3 cr	Rs 4.7 cr
Video usage expenses	Rs 5.3 cr	Rs 7.5 cr

The most interesting fact is that Hike was once valued at around $1.4 bn, and was also known as one of the fastest growing unicorn then, while it failed to generate any operational revenues back then.

Hike Messenger – Acquisitions and Investments

Hike has acquired 3 organizations – CREO, InstaLively, and Thought Mechanics.

Their most recent acquisition was CREO on Aug 11, 2017. CREO is on a mission to build software that empowers every device to deliver new experiences every month. Thought Mechanics is a web development company acquired by Hike in January 2015. InstaLively helps broadcast your event Live in just a single click. Hike acquired InstaLively in June 2017.

Acquired	Date
January 2015	Thought Mechanics
June 2017	InstaLively
August 2017	CREO

Hike has invested in WinZO on Feb 22, 2019. This investment – Series A – WinZO – was valued at $5M.

Hike Messenger – Future Plans

Hike has officially called its social messenger to quits earlier in 2021 and has not been very active since then. However, the exponential growth that online gaming and the Crypto industry have witnessed has attracted the company, which is now looking to expand on those lines.

Hike has already forayed into the gaming industry by launching a social app, Vibe, and Rush, an online gaming app. The company is now looking to start its journey with cryptocurrency by offering crypto operations and services.

Hike rolled out the NFT avatars on February 28, 2022, with an eye on its blockchain gaming universe. It upped the game with Rush Avatar, which will be an NFT and digital identity for the users.

Kavin Bharti Mittal, Founder & CEO, Hike said, “With the Rush Avatar NFT, players will now own their digital identity in the RGU. This launch brings the Rush Gaming Universe on-chain and with it we plant the seeds to build a new game economy where consumers are owners.”

Monetisation is what the Hike platform is currently looking eagerly at. With the launch of Rush, Hike has already seeing the gaming experience gradually meeting its success. However, it will be interesting to note how Hike capitalists gaming boom and would earn its revenues ahead.

FAQs

What is Hike’s origin country?

Hike is a messaging app that originated in India, and was founded by Kavin Bharti Mittal.

Is Hike a Chinese app?

No, Hike is an Indian app.

Who is Hike Indian messenger app founder?

Kavin Bharti Mittal is the founder and CEO of Indian instant messaging app Hike, and also the son of business tycoon Bharti Mittal.

Who are the Hike investors?

Hike is mainly funded by investors Foxconn Technology Group, Tencent Holdings, Tiger Global Management, and Bharti Soft Bank.

What is Hike Timeline?

Timeline is an awesome hike feature where you can post photos and status updates.

What are Hike Rewards?

Hike Rewards helps you expand your network on Hike. Invite your friends using exclusive invites offered by Hike and earn rewards by sending and receiving stickers to your friends.
Earn points and redeem them for exclusive rewards and recharges.

May 7, 2022